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Staff of the Western Regional Fisheries Board have been investigating a fish kill in the Clarin River in Athenry, Co. Galway today. Preliminary investigations would suggest that in the event hundreds of trout and salmon fry and parr as well as some adult trout have been killed in an apparent wipe out of over half a mile of river upstream of Athenry town.
The incident is the most serious in the Region this year and the Board are following a definite line of enquiry into the cause of the pollution and fish kill. It is apparent that a sewage discharge is responsible for the kill, the cause of the kill has since ceased.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Board, Dr. Greg Forde said that “as temperatures rose in recent days there was an increased risk of fish kills but the region had been lucky until today, it is a shame that so many healthy fish have been killed in this important salmonid river”. He went on to add that the event was such that the Board would be actively pursuing the matter legally”
This fish kill must serve as a warning that in such very low waters and high temperatures it takes very little to tip the balance and cause a fish kill and he was calling on local authorities, farmers and developers to be particularly vigilant over the coming days to ensure that this kill is not repeated.
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