Clyde fish kill: SEPA update
SEPA have provided the following update on the fish kill that occurred on the River Clyde in July:
“SEPA received complaints of dead fish in the River Clyde upstream of the Tidal Weir around Glasgow Green on Sunday 28 July; however the incident causing their death appears to have occurred some days earlier. The delay in SEPA being informed has made the investigation more challenging, however we have still been able to gather a large amount of data and we are presently processing and interpreting this. Once we have a finished report we will be happy to share this with interested parties. We know that water quality in the Clyde is improving, and the presence of so many fish also tells us that the Clyde can now provide a suitable habitat most of the time. Our investigation is ongoing, but the fish kill seems likely to have been caused by an unfortunate coincidence of factors producing low dissolved oxygen levels in the river – this includes: low river flows, high temperatures and urban run off/sewer overflows triggered by the intense storm events at the end of the extended hot, dry period in July. The morphology of this area of the Clyde also seems likely to be a factor. The loss of so many fish is obviously very disappointing, but we are hopeful that our investigation will provide a valuable insight into the cause of this incident and also help inform future decisions in relation to improving the environment and ecology of this stretch of the River Clyde. As ever, we are very keen that pollution incidents are reported to SEPA as soon as possible – our pollution hotline number is 0800 80 70 60.”
We would encourage you to report any pollution incidents to SEPA as soon as possible on their Pollution Hotline – 0800 80 70 60. When reporting an incident, please provide as much detail as you can about the location, type and duration of the incident, and take photographs if possible.