Groups on stand-by to pump England’s rivers with oxygen amid fears of fish deaths because of sizzling climate

Jun 29, 2023 at 12:57 PM
Groups on stand-by to pump England’s rivers with oxygen amid fears of fish deaths because of sizzling climate

Environmental groups have been placed on stand-by to oxygenate England’s rivers in a bid to guard fish within the occasion of a heatwave.

The Environment Agency (EA) says it has recorded “hundreds of fish kill incidents” already this yr – with drops in oxygen ranges in rivers and canals blamed.

The Angling Trust claims it has additionally seen a “spike” in fish deaths in latest weeks, with the north-west of England regarded as one of many worst-hit areas.

It comes after a sizzling spell in June – expected by the Met Office to be the warmest on record.

Environmental teams have been put on stand-by to oxygenate England's rivers this summer in a bid to protect fish in the event of a heatwave.
Image:
The Environment Agency utilizing a machine to oxygenate water. Pic: Environment Agency

The EA says it has made its fisheries groups out there “around the clock” to reply to fish kill incidents, together with utilizing aeration tools to assist restore the degrees of dissolved oxygen in rivers and canals.

The company is already investigating fish kill incidents at Salford Quays, Greater Manchester, and a stretch of the River Mole, in Surrey.

It believes excessive temperatures and low atmospheric strain on account of thunderstorms – inflicting low dissolved oxygen ranges – are responsible.

However, the Angling Trust, which has acquired stories of fish kill incidents within the north-west, south-west and south-east of England, in addition to the Warwickshire Avon, warns such an strategy is “complacent”.

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The Trust says “poor water quality, pollution and, in places, over abstractions and low flows” are contributing to the incidents.

“While it may be the loss of oxygen that is causing the devastation, the blame does not lie solely with the hot weather,” the belief says.

“What we have is another wake-up call for the EA and Defra. These fish kills are yet more evidence of the appalling abuse our rivers face daily.

“As our local weather modifications, our rivers merely wouldn’t have the resilience to operate in something like a pure freshwater ecosystem.

“A period of hot weather and thunderstorms is a tipping point, it is not the cause.”

Read extra:
Mackerel no longer a sustainable seafood due to overfishing
Warning over invasive salmon species set to arrive in UK waters

The EA’s emergency plans had been mentioned on Wednesday at a gathering of England’s National Drought Group – which incorporates senior choice makers from the Environment Agency, authorities, water firms and key farming and environmental organisations.

The group heard how water ranges are at the moment greater than they had been this time in 2022 – the warmest yr on document within the UK.

“However, the natural environment continues to take time to recuperate from the impacts of last summer and the Environment Agency is also focusing ongoing efforts on monitoring how fish and invertebrates are recovering from drought,” the group stated in an announcement.