Lough Neagh pollution had major impact on north Derry beaches with 25 ‘blue-green algae’ blooms - video Dailymotion

Lough Neagh pollution had major impact on north Derry beaches with 25 ‘blue-green algae’ blooms

Transcript

00:00 Six major rivers feed the loch, the Ballanderi, the Niolla, Six Mile Water, Blackwater, the

00:06 Main and the upper ban itself. Only one river flows out, the lower ban, and that

00:11 wends its way through County Xantham and Londonderry to the bar mouth between

00:15 Cassarock and Port Stewart, including through Corian, the principal town of the

00:19 Cosray Coast Alliance. As someone who has had the privilege of fishing for white

00:23 trout at Dugan's Bay and the tidal stretch of the ban, above the cuts at the

00:27 Loch and Island for salmon, including the Big and Wee Agave rivers, the

00:31 beaches of Downhill, Cassarock and Port Stewart for flounder and sea bass, I am

00:36 all too aware of the debris that flows through the river ban into the sea from

00:42 Loch Neagh. And that includes the irregular flow of water being released from the

00:47 loch in intimate weather and in times of high levels of water on the

00:51 loch itself. Last year's algae bloom saw 25 confirmed instances between the lower

00:56 ban at Toom and the bar mouth at Cassarock and Port Stewart. It is not just

01:01 Loch Neagh but along the lower ban corridor, affecting angling and tourism,

01:05 especially on the north coast bathing beaches. Everything that is

01:09 waterborne emerging from Loch Neagh flows along the ban and out to sea.

01:13 Therefore, nitrates and phosphates need to be prevented from entering the loch

01:17 at source. Mr. Speaker, when you were Minister of the Area, you initiated an

01:23 ambitious tree planting scheme. We need to continue with that thought by planting

01:27 riparian tree and vegetation cover along our rivers, entering Loch Neagh to catch

01:31 some of the leachate from farmland and also find a natural solution to the

01:35 invasive species of zebra mussel, preferably a natural predator rather than

01:39 a chemical solution. I would add my support to the dearer Minister as he

01:43 grapples with this ecological time bomb. I would agree with others that this

01:47 problem needs cross-departmental support, but I would encourage the Minister to

01:51 not just look at the loch itself but to include the waterways feeding into the

01:55 loch and the one river that flows out to the lower ban. Mention has been alluded to

02:00 here about eel fishing. I can remember the ropes at the cuts, black with

02:05 elvers making their way upstream. That is no longer the case. Unfortunately, that is

02:11 something that needs to be looked into as well. Hence the need to have a holistic

02:14 approach to Loch Neagh and its associated waterways.