Inquiry after fish deaths at Belfast

Press, 22 January 1979, Page 6

Inquiry after fish deaths at Belfast

More than 100 brown trout have been found dead in a feeder stream of the Waimakariri River. The fish were found about 90m downstream from the Dickeys Road bridge in Belfast. Although they were near. a freezing works outlet, no cause of death had been established, said Mr B. F. Webb, secretary of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. The dead fish were first discovered on Saturday evening. Yesterday Mr

Webb counted 112 lying in the water. There might have been as many as 200 dead fish, but some would have been eaten by eels and seagulls before they were counted, said Mr Webb. The area where the fish were found is popular for fishing and some of the fish were as big as 3kg. “It is a common occurrence for dead trout to be found near an effluent outlet, but this is the biggest number for some time,” said Mr Webb. Mr J. A. Macdonald,

chief engineer of the North Canterbury Catchment Board, said last evening that the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, which has its freezing works at Belfast, had been told of the fish deaths. The company had stopped any effluent discharge into the river and was inquiring into the incident, said Mr Macdonald. The Catchment Board will also investigate the fish deaths and will decide whether to take any action.