The chances of identifying and securing a prosecution against those responsible for a pollution incident which killed over 30,000 fish in the River Blackwater over a month ago have gone, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) have said.
IFI deputy CEO Barry Fox told an Oireachtas Committee hearing on Climate, Environment and Energy that an interagency investigation had been unable to establish the source or cause of the incident.
When questioned on Tuesday by Kerry Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly, Mr Fox said IFI was undertaking a number of further investigations to help restore fish populations in the Blackwater. However, he said these investigations would not identify the fish-kill perpetrators.
“I think the idea of locating the person or persons who caused this issue is at an end,” said Mr Fox. He also revealed that IFI believed the pollution incident happened up to 72 hours before the first dead fish were spotted on August 11th.
READ MORE
Mr Fox told Padraig O’Sullivan, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central, that it was not unusual for IFI to be unable to establish the cause of a spillage. He pointed out that some once-off incidents are carried through the water system before the source can be detected.
“The nature of deleterious discharges, one-off discharges, is that if we don’t locate them in quick time, they will dissipate and we will not be able to find the offender," he said. “So it does happen quite regularly - it’s difficult to source a point.”
Mr O’Sullivan asked whether a joint agency report published last Thursday, which revealed that the various agencies had been unable to find the cause of the fish kill, was the end of the matter. Mr Fox said that the agencies would publish a final report at a later date.
“We have committed to actually review, to develop a final report on this,” he said. “We are also looking at developing a national emergency response team for hopefully avoiding incidents like this in the future, but we will have that team in place."
Mr Fox said that the Blackwater fish kill was “a catastrophic environmental incident that prompted one of the most extensive investigations in IFI’s history”. However, despite comprehensive efforts, the precise cause of the event remained undetermined.
He added: “Notably, the fish kill was atypical. Live and apparently healthy fish were frequently observed alongside dead or moribund fish throughout the affected reach, complicating efforts to identify a discrete pollution source."
Mr Fox earlier said that within the Blackwater catchment in north Cork, IFI has successfully closed 18 environmental prosecutions since 2019. Another three remain pending with all addressing critical issues such as deleterious discharges and damage to spawning habitats.
He said IFI remains committed to the enforcement of existing legislation. However, he acknowledged there were legislative shortcomings of the current Fisheries Acts, with limited enforcement powers, primarily restricted to addressing harmful discharges and interference with spawning beds.
Mr Fox said that while IFI has a strong and proven track record in enforcing the existing legislation, the minimal penalties available through the lower courts significantly undermine the effectiveness of enforcement efforts.
“We strongly contend these penalties are not proportionate to the severity of environmental crimes, which cause significant harm to fisheries, their habitats and the communities that depend on our rivers and water quality for both amenity value and livelihoods.”
