78 fish kills have been recorded in Kerry in the last 55 years, according to a new report.
Inland Fisheries Ireland this week published Fish Kills in Ireland – History, Current Status and Recovery.
Kerry had among the lowest fish kills caused by agriculture and municipal sources, but was among the higher end of fish kills caused by industrial sources.
According to the report, there were 78 fish kills recorded in Kerry between 1969 and 2022, which is 4.5% of the national total.
Agriculture was the most frequently reported cause of fish kills in Ireland between 1969 and 2022, at 23%.
Between 2007 and 2022, Kerry had the joint-lowest percentage of fish kills caused by agriculture at just 4%, while Cork had the highest with 16%.
The next most common cause was eutrophication, in which water has excessive nutrients because of factors that could include runoff from fertiliser or release of sewage effluent into water bodies.
Kerry had the joint-lowest percentage of fish kills relating to this, at just 0.4% of the national total since 1969.
Kerry did have the third-highest percentage of fish kills attributed to industrial sources at 12.8%, behind just Cork and Tipperary.
The vast majority of these were between 1969 and 2006, during which Kerry had over 14% of all industrially-caused fish kills.
The Tralee Bay-Feale Hydrometric Area alone accounted for 9.4% of all industrially-related fish kills since 1969.
Kerry also had the joint-lowest percentage of fish kills recorded associated with municipal sources, at just 0.7%.
Milltown, on the Monacappa River, was identified as a fish kill hotspot within the southwest, with kills in the years 1992, 1993, 1994, 2007, 2008, and 2014 down to industrial, municipal, and unknown causes.
