Massive fish kill as heatwave hits lake -examiner

jd

By Neans McSweeney
ENVIRONMENTAL officers say they are dealing with an “ecological disaster” after thousands of fish were killed by soaring temperatures at a lake in Co Wexford.
The fish were first noticed last Thursday off Our Lady’s Island Lake in South Wexford. The clean-up operation continued yesterday and it could be several more days before all the fish have been removed in an incident which has wiped out all life in the 1,500-year-old lake.

“The temperature of the water has increased rapidly in the past days, rising to 23 degrees,” said environmental officer


Tadhg O’Corcaire.

“The levels of the water have also dropped because of evaporation. We are continuing to investigate the source and are looking at other causes as well.”

The fish washed up on the southern shore of the lake and included eels, fluke, bass and roach.

Officials from Wexford County Council examined the scene yesterday, along with officials from the Eastern Fisheries Board. Eastern Regional Fisheries Board chief executive Alan McGurdy said all stocks in the 1,000 acre boggy lagoon had probably been wiped out. He said that some of his officers recorded water temperatures of 25.9 degrees last week, six degrees higher than normal for this time of the year.

“Our staff are out on the lake looking for any pockets of live fish, but most of the fish have now died. And the chance of rescuing the survivors is slim because the fish will have become so stressed at this point,” he said.

It will take years for stocks to recover, said Mr McGurdy. The lake has been fished for generations and six licence holders fish it regularly, mostly for its eels which are up to 15 years old.

“This lake is almost 1,000 acres in size and is mostly boggy and shallow. Tonnes of fish have died at this point. It is a land-locked lagoon. It is opened up every now and again to allow sea water in. If we could have foreseen this earlier, we may have been able to allow water in, but we simply didn’t.”

County Council and fisheries staff continued to collect several tonnes of fish over the weekend.

The lakehas become smelly with the stench of decaying plants and fish, making life even tougher for those involved in the clean-up operation

aoifejane

John,
Go to work!

jd

Originally posted by aoifejane
John,
Go to work!

No escape!!