Frequent fish kills threatening to collapse ‘delicate’ ecosystem

Ms Braniff said she is concerned that people are becomming immune to the sight of polluted waterways in Northern Ireland.

Similarly, Gary Houston, chairman of the Ulster Angling Federation pointed out that while it doesn’t take much to cause a fish kill, “there are far too many of these incidents in Northern Ireland now.”

“Our waters are such poor quality, and because the management of agricultural waste is not controlled well enough, some of our rivers never get that chance to recover.

“Our rivers are polluted all the time,” he added.

When asked how Northern Ireland compares to the rest of the UK and Ireland, Mr Houston told BBC News NI that “we are at the bottom.”

“It comes down to regulation.

“There is really bad enforcement policy and low penalty rate for these types of offences, its just a free for all,” he said.