SEPA is appealing for information regarding an incidence of around 50 dead fish across an 18-mile stretch of the River Spey in the past 12 days.
The river, located in the northeast of Scotland, is one of the most important and productive salmon rivers in the UK.
The environmental agency was first alerted to fish deaths on Monday, September 11 by the Spey Fishery Board.
But despite water sampling and ongoing inspections by officers, the agency has found no evidence of a recent pollution event.
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SEPA said is continuing to work with the Spey Fishery Board and the Fish Health Inspectorate of Marine Scotland - the lead body responsible for fish mortalities - regarding the incident.
🚨ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY ON THE RIVER SPEY🚨
— Jim Murray (@TheJimMurray) September 19, 2023
So far over a hundred & counting dead salmon and sea trout have been counted in on one of Scotlands finest salmon rivers. This began 2 weeks ago and @ScottishEPA have done nothing! The fish appear to have toxic burns on them..⬇️ pic.twitter.com/FVlMpIgQpD
David Ogilvie, Senior Manager for Environmental Performance at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said: “Despite water sampling and ongoing inspections by officers, we’ve found no evidence of a pollution event that would have resulted in fish mortality on this scale.
"We’re continuing to work closely with partners, including the Fish Health Inspectorate who lead on fish moralities. The Fish Health Inspectorate will analyse samples in due course.
Meantime we’re asking anyone with any information to contact SEPA online at sepa.org.uk/report or by calling our Pollution Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”
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