TENS of thousands of young fish have been killed by pollution in Lough Gowna, Co Cavan. A similar fish kill occurred in the lake last year.
Anglers reported finding tens of thousands of roach and perch fry washed up on the shores around the lake. A local angling club has been monitoring the build up of dead fish, which it is feared could wipe out two years stock.
The shoreline at Rosduff, near the village of Gowna, was yesterday "littered with dead fish", according to a Dublin angler, Mr Paul Moran, who said that the fish kill appeared to be spread across much of the lake, which is part of the Erne system.
Mr Moran, a regular visitor to the area, said that the kill was much larger than last year, but not as serious as a kill in 1993, which had caused severe damage to coarse fish stocks in the lake.
"Just when we thought the lake was recovering, we get hit by this, and the only hope is that we had a lot of overnight rain, which may help ease the situation," said Mr Moran.
The fish kill is being investigated by the North Western Regional Fisheries Board, which has blamed the previous kills on agricultural pollution.