Information on fish kills have been compiled and reported annually since 1969 by the Inland Fisheries Trust (formerly the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards and now Inland Fisheries Ireland) and Marine Institute (formerly Fisheries Research Centre). The authors collated all available data from published annual reports, fish kills reports and internal unpublished IFI reports. The data used varied in quality throughout the period with no, or sparse records available during certain periods in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s. Information on the species impacted and the number of mortalities was typically reported to the relevant agencies or gathered by those assessing the fish kills in response to these reports. This data was collated and summarised into four categories, i.e., salmonid, coarse fish, marine and other fish. In a small number (approximately 20) of cases “All species” was reported, we assigned these cases to salmonids as no other information was available.  The cause of most fish kill events was recorded at the time of the incident but in many cases, the reason was unreported because the cause was unknown, or suspected but unconfirmed. In addition, many records were described with varying degrees of detail rather than assigned to convenient and discrete categories. In other instances, more than one cause was described. Where data were available the specific cause was classified into eight broad categories, namely agriculture, construction, eutrophication, industrial, mining, municipal, other and unknown. Where a fish kill impacted both a river and a lake, the data was treated as two separate incidents and assigned separate codes, but such instances were rare. Where a fish kill impacted both a tributary and a main channel, the data was treated as one incident. The data lags at least a year behind IFI’s internal reports to allow for prosecutions to be completed. Link to report - Fish and Habitats: Science and Management, Vol. 3 Fish Kills in Ireland – History, Current Status and Recovery

Field Name

Field Alias

Field Type

Field Description

cdRbd

River Basin District

Text

IFI river basin districts (RBDs), broad geographic delineations. These include the Eastern River Basin District (ERBD), Northwestern River Basin District (NWRBD), Shannon River Basin District (ShRBD), Southeastern River Basin District (SERBD), Southwestern River Basin District (SWRBD) and Western River Basin District (WRBD). Please note that the areas covered by the Loughs Agency are not included in this dataset.

EPA_46

EPA 46

Text

High level river monitoring and water quality layer consisting of 46 river catchments (see Appendix E). The catchments illustrated here, serve as a guide because they are at a relatively high level (mainly hydrometric area) and therefore, administrative in nature. For example, the “Liffey and Dublin Bay (09)” includes the main River Liffey catchment itself, but also numerous smaller, unconnected, coastal streams. Furthermore, the River Shannon (Hydrometric Areas 25 and 26) has been divided into 11 smaller catchments (Appendix E). Please note that the areas covered by the Loughs Agency are not included in this dataset.  

indFisheryDistrict

Fishery District

Text

Fishery District Licence areas. Polygon dataset representing the 17 IFI fishery districts. A district licence allows for angling in one fishery district. Please note that the areas covered by the Loughs Agency are not included in this dataset.

yrFishKills

Year of fish kill

Text

Year of reported fish kill

indWbType

Water body type

Text

River, lake, transitional water, coastal, artificial (pond, reservoir, canal, etc.)

County

County

Text

Irelands county layer (excluding the six counties within Northern Ireland).

indWbName

Waterbody Name

Text

Water body name

indFinalCause

Final Cause

Text

Reported final summary cause of each fish kill. Where data were available the specific cause was classified into eight broad categories, namely agriculture, construction, eutrophication, industrial, mining, municipal, other and unknown.

indSalmonidMortality

Salmonid Mortality Recorded

Text

Confirmation if the salmonid fish family group was impacted by the fish kill. Salmonid = freshwater spawning fish that generally have evolved to survive in cold or cool water conditions. (Atlantic salmon, brown trout, sea trout or Arctic char).

Y= Salmonid family group impacted and blank (no value) = none or not recorded.

indCoarseFishMortality

Coarse Fish Mortality Recorded

Text

Confirmation if the coarse fish group was impacted by the fish kill.

Irish coarse fish species includes perch, roach, rudd, bream, dace, chub and tench (but usually not eels or lamprey). For the purposes of this study we also included pike, minnow, stone loach, gudgeon, three and nine/ten spined stickleback in the category. Hybrids of roach, rudd and bream are also included. In many cases the exact species wasn’t reported.

Y= Coarse fish group impacted and blank (no value) = none or not recorded.

indMarineFishMortality

Marine Fish Mortality Recorded

Text

Confirmation if the marine fish group was impacted by the fish kill (examples included are flounder, bass, mullet and sprat).

Y= marine fish group impacted and blank (no value) = none or not recorded.

indOtherFishMortality

Other Fish Mortality Recorded

Text

Confirmation if Other fish species (excluding salmonid, coarse and marine) were impacted by the fish kill. The Other fish group includes eel and lamprey (Brook, Freshwater or Sea Lamprey).

Y= Other fish group impacted and blank (no value) = none or not recorded.

indFamilyAffected

Fish Family Affected

Text

Name of fish family groups affected by the fish kill or Not recorded.