Kesh River: Impacts of major fish kill are still being felt today
IN September, 2021, residents of Kesh were met with scenes of devastation on the banks of the nearby river. The weather was calm, the atmosphere perhaps unseasonably warm. But what was discovered that day was far from typical. Hundreds of brown trout had been washed up under the town bridge, in the immediate vicinity of tourist cruisers moored at the marina.
Countless lay dead, others lay dying, gasping for air, soon to be an unexpected food source for a family of mink.
Alarms were raised, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) alerted. Officials eventually attended, but much to the dismay of local anglers, no fish were taken for toxicological investigation.
An estimated 2,500 fish were killed that day on the Kesh/glendurragh River. At the time, it was described as “a local environmental disaster”
Locals and angling community alike waited in apprehension for the cause of the kill to be revealed.
But this information never arrived.
Soon after the kill, NIEA carried out an investigation into the incident.
The organisation to this day asserts that they “endeavour in all cases to identify the root cause of these regrettable fish kills, wherever possible, in order to hold those responsible to account.
The conclusion? “No identifiable source of pollution confirmed”, NIEA said.
This provided little comfort to the people of Kesh.
Almost two-and-a-half years on, and the local community are still living with the memory of that the mystery pollution incident, and the fear that it could all too easily happen again.
Questions remain unanswered and many feel statutory bodies could have done more.
NIEA asserts that the pollution incident “did not have a major impact on the overall quality of the freshwater inverebrae community Glendurragh/kesh River.”
Anglers, including Kesh man, Stephen Hey, tell a different story.
“It is too early to say if fish stocks have recovered, as it takes much longer than three years,” Mr Hey. said, who is a former chairperson of Kesh Anglers.
“However, anecdotal evidence and data from club competition records would suggest a decline in lake catches, both in number and size of trout.
“Anecdotally, the fly fishing has deteriorated, certainly in the Kesh area, indicating a a lack of fish, or else the distribution of trout has substantially changed.
“Certainly the opinion of the fly fishing community is that surface feeding has declined from what it was, even in the height of the mayfly season.”
Like many anglers, Mr. Hey is of the opinion that more could have been done in a immediate aftermath of the traumatic fish kill in 2021.
“Some anglers have caught good trout this autumn from the river, but it is the opinion of many, including myself, that the river should have been closed to angling after the 2021 pollution incident,” he said.
“The season should have at least been cut short to allow ascending fish to spawn undisturbed, and stocks to recover more quickly.
“DAERA, quoting the Stormont impasse, were unable to enact legislation which could have enabled this, and also to allow the curtailment of bag and size limits for fishing what are essential nursery streams for Lower Lough Erne.”
Despite this, NIEA asserts that, “previous research in Northern Ireland has indicated that fish can naturally recover from pollution fish kill incidents.”
This can, according to NIEA, take at least three years.
When asked if any “long term action” had been taken regarding by the agency regarding the Kesh fish kill incident, an NIEA spokesperson said that “electric fishing surveys” were conducted on the Kesh river in 2022 and again in 2023 to “monitor the recruitment of juvenile salmon and trout.”
Indeed, the upcoming 2024 survey will be telling, as roughly coinciding with the three-year anniversary of the fish kill; a point in time when fish stocks should be, in theory, recovered.
However, with this milestone only five months away, anglers aren’t optimistic that the health of the river will be back to pre-kill levels.
As with any waterway, the Kesh/ Glendurragh River is by far an isolated entity.
As a tributary of Lower Lough, the river flows into wider concerns about the general health of the system as a whole.
One such problem is pollution, with “problems” including the dumping of rubbish in the river persisting.
According to Mr. Hey litter, builders waste and rubbish are routinely seen in Lough Erne, which is a cause for concern.
“The local river has had problems with litter, which are possibly less than they were some years ago,” Mr. Hey said.
“But in Kesh, plastic bottles, builders waste and polystyrene packaging routinely
make their way down to the lake, no doubt reducing in time to nanoplastics which will enter the food web with untold consequences.
“Kesh and District Anglers and concerned locals have routinely collected large quantities of rubbish, which is difficult and manageable only by boat.”
The issue of pollution on Lough systems are more pertinent than ever. In recent months, the health of other waterways in Northern Ireland, namely Lough Neagh, has been in sharp focus, especially regarding the issue of Blue-green Algae.
In the warmer months, these toxic blooms have also been seen at Lough Erne, albeit on a vastly smaller scale.
In Lough Neagh, agriculture - including effluent and slurry - is firmly in the crosshares as the sector to blame for these toxic blooms. Many, including former Agriculture Minister, Edwin Poots, have strongly refuted this.
Locally, Mr. Hey feels it is unfair to blame farmers for pollution of local waterways.
“DAERA and NIEA are under-funded, under-resourced and no doubt demoralised by the lack of direction and accountability,” he said. “Recent scandals concerning fabricated soil samples, to support effluent - generating agricultural projects, do not engender public confidence in the statutory authorities.
“That said, the agricultural sector, often bearing the brunt of the criticism concerning pollution, is a microcosm of the public at large, and the vast majority are responsible, and do their best in trying circumstances.
“It was not to blame for the disastrous events on the Kesh/glendurragh river three years ago. Those persistent offenders who are eventually prosecuted seem to be few and their penalties derisory.”
Mr. Hey added: “Combined Sewer Outfalls need urgent attention. Out of sight, out of mind thinking, as regards the aquatic environment, is quite simply medieval, its time to move on.
NIEA was asked if they are undertaking any specific measures on the reduction of pollution on the Lough Erne waterways.
A response read: “In terms of reduced numbers of Brown trout, Mr. Hey said that the discontinuation of the Erne/melvin Enhancement Scheme has “resulted in an opportunity to ameliorate this unfortunate situation being missed.”
The scheme promoted the preservation of genetically unique Lough Erne Brown trout through the breeding at a purpose built facility at the Marble Arch fish hatchery, which facilitated the restocking of the Erne system.
The local angler has called on the newlyrestored NI Executive to reconsider this scheme.
“Previously gravid female trout and ripe cock fish were electronetted from local rivers, such as the Glendurragh/kesh river, their DNA validated as being of true Lough Erne genotype, and their offspring reared in the spring fed waters at Florencecourt,” Mr. Hey explained.
“Large numbers of juvenile trout, specific to a local named nursery stream, were then used, if needed, to top up populations where they have been compromised by poor environmental conditions of both natural and man-made origins, including the disastrous pollution of the Kesh river.
“Now that Stormont is up and running, serious consideration needs to be given to this and to the increased protection of the nursery streams, which for a lough the size of the Erne, are relatively few and far between.
“On a cost basis, it was small beer in the Stormont budget. The potential of the Erne as a trout fishery should be on a par with Corrib with sound management of the nursery streams.”
It may be almost three-years since the major fish kill at Kesh, and questions still abound. At this point, the long-term impacts of the fish kill in 2021 have yet to be fully realised.
The importance of the three-year mark regarding fish stocks will be telling, as will the rate of toxic blue/green algae blooms on Lough Erne as seasonal temperatures begin to increase.