64 incidents of fish kills in Galway waterways since 1969

A new report has revealed there’s been 64 recorded incident of fish kills in Galway rivers and lakes since 1969.

Inland Fisheries Ireland has published a major new report on over 2,100 fish kills nationwide between 1969 and 2022.

While specific figures are not available for each kill reported, some involve thousands of dead fish.

Galway sits somewhere in the middle of the tables at 64 incidents over the 50 plus years examined, accounting for 3.6 percent of the overall figure.

The highest number of incidents was recorded in Co. Cork at 242 – while the lowest was 13 episodes in Co. Westmeath.

Brown Trout was the most common casulty by far at 52 percent – followed by Salmon at 15 percent and Roach at 9 percent.

The most common cause of fish kills was agriculture, followed by excessive plant or algae growth, and industrial sources.