More than 6,000 wild trout and salmon killed in massive pollution incident

Incident being described as “the largest ever fish kill in Devon and Cornwall”.

Devon Live reports that at least 6,000 fish – including brown trout, sea trout and salmon and more species – have been found floating dead in the water.

The UK’s Environment Agency tweeted that they were dealing with pollution affecting 15km of the River Sheppey, South West England.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency told the publication that he had never seen anything on such a scale before.

“Since this information was released (yesterday) our officers have gained a better understanding of the scale of the incident and the number of fish casualties is now thought to be at least 6,000.

“One of our fisheries officers who attended the scene, who has 30 years’ experience, said he couldn’t remember so many fish killed in one incident.

“Our investigation into the cause of the pollution is ongoing.

“Environment Agency officers will return next week to take biological samples and carry out further checks to establish the overall impact of the pollution on the ecology of the river.”

The samples are currently being assessed and authorities said an investigation is ongoing.

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