#FiskKill - Heavy rain over the weekend slowed the investigation into a fish kill on a tributary of an important salmon and trout river for Northern Ireland.
As BBC News reports, a slurry discharge in the Altagoan River near Magherafelt caused the death of a “significant” number of fish over a two-mile stretch, as discovered by local anglers late last week.
The Altagoan flows into the Moyola River, described by the Moyola Angling Club as “one of Northern Ireland’s premier salmon and dollaghan [Lough Neagh trout] rivers”.
Local fishermen say the situation is “completely devastaing” to the popular game fishery, which has had much enhancement work over the last decade.
The news comes just week after a cracked pipe led to a chemical spill and subsequent fish kill in a Co Down river, amid concerns over spikes in pollution and poaching across Northern Ireland.
