ALL THE FISH DIED IN THE RIVER FOSS

[@portcullis5622]

I did a project on the River Foss in the late 1980s. Back then, I found out that 90% of the water in the Foss in summer had been through the sewage works at Haxby and Strensall. When you take into account the fact that those villages are now small towns and the dumping of untreated sewage has increased massively since the water companies were privatised (also in the late 1980s), it isn't surprising that the Foss experienced regular fish kills. Low flow rates are made worse by abstraction for agriculture and the Foss Internal Drainage Board (farmers) use the river as a drain for excess water, with all the excess nitrates and phosphates from the fields. The river is straightened and largely denuded of tree cover upstream of Huntington. There were many fish kills around the country in June this year. Apparently a lot of them were due to storms (after the long dry spell) washing in organic matter. The bacteria in the water use up extra dissolved oxygen to break down the organic matter and that results in fish kills. The situation makes me sad and angry in equal measure.

[@jorvikangler]

If anybody wants to help prevent this sort of thing then start writing to your MP. Both the EA and CRT are chronically underfunded and simply don't have the staff to cope with this sort of thing. Not that it helps when Conservative MPs voted to legalise the dumping of sewage into the rivers and sea.

[@garyrodgers9620]

It's a perfect storm that kills the fish. Intensive farming which results in over rich run off and underfunding of the agencies which should be managing the Foss for wildlife. The huge majority of people would vote for a restoration of the river but we do not live in a democracy. Power is in the hands of the polluters. I would urge the new Labour Council in York to respond. This is a disgrace.

[@paulcousans4254]

Used to happen on a regular basis in the early eighties, i remember walking into town from yearsley bridge and the amount of fish dead was staggering, massive roach, chub and pike. Sad days.

[@ianredmond8389]

So, so sad to see such devastation of the local environment Adam😢🎣☕

[@thetattooedangler]

That is so sad. It will take years for the river to recover from that. What a shame.

[@majmat]

All the weed you see produces oxygen, this is pollution. Farm run off causes bacteria which lowers the oxygen in the water, pollution is invisible and will need testing. I've only ever seen this in polluted rivers where the oxygen has been used my microbes, which suffocates fish. All it takes is 1 farmer to screw a stretch of river right up. If you walk upstream until you see live fish, you can pinpoint where it started.

[@davidroberts3588]

unfortunately much as all the weed acts as an oxygenator during the day, but at night it removes oxygen from the water. we are suffering from a perfect storm in as much as low clear water and all the sunshine encourages weed growth the low levels mean there is less and less flow water temperature is getting higher and higher. it all adds up to the water becoming eutrophic especially at night and this can be catastrophic for fish stocks. i recommend angling clubs and water owners keep a close eye on their stocks. if you can do it install aerators or pumps

[@majmat]

@@davidroberts3588 Yep plants do exactly the same, but i find it strange that its only effected a small stretch of river, which is why i think it could be farm or sewage pollution which aerobic bacteria are feeding on. More should be done for small water courses in very hot weather, an air or water pump to oxygenate the water before the problem starts would be great if it's happening most years.

[@friedshrimp4472]

Its all the pollution going to the rivers, lack of oxygen for fish..

[@thecambridgeshireangler7168]

Absolutely horrendous to see this, I just hope the fenland drains don't suffer the same. The farmers are irrigating constantly due to the weather.

[@martincallaghan8817]

Heart breaking ' surly thet can put some aerators in to certain stretches in this day and age , even if it's just reversing a pump , if these sort of summers are going to be a regular occurrence something needs putting in place .

[@alandavies3727]

The same thing happened in my garden pond. The oxygen was sucked out. This is very sad.

[@michaelbond8204]

Shame but not surprising, every summer the Foss turns into what looks like a stagnant swamp

[@peterfish101]

Well abstraction, pollution, both would contribute to this obviously. I don’t know if factually this has happened here but let’s face it we all know now it is happening all the time up and down the country.

[@markbacon946]

My local canal is just the same dead fish everywhere

[@geoffreyswain1490]

Is this why we paying 20 to 30 pound per season for rod licence to find this in our rivers been told raw sewage been leaked into aire too

[@colintimms7619]

If you go further out of town it gets better. But it's been like it for years now

[@geoffreyswain1490]

Ouse running a chocolate brown colour from naburn locks to selby been like that for weeks

[@andrewclark9515]

This can’t just be down to the jack of oxygen due to hot weather . Rivers in Europe that have hotter weather then us sone suffer like this !

[@AnthonyWilliams-ew3wp]

So very sad

[@MatchFishingFilms]

Sadly its happening in slower stretches of river all over the country. Horrific.

[@r33ouch33]

Not just slow stretches, this happened on the Warks Avon last week. I don't agree this is oxygen, it's pollution to kill this many. Lakes and other areas are fine...

[@MatchFishingFilms]

@@r33ouch33 lakes without aeration are struggling too. Loads in my area are suffering the same fate. Of course pollution is doing damage. But surely this is oxygen and algae crashes!

[@mattwilson1213]

it's a real shame and sadly not the first time iv seen it over the years...I'd love them to dredge again and maintain the rivers in and around york more like they used to but the pen pushers in their offices know better I guess 😢

[@jorvikangler]

What good is dredging?

[@STONEWALL148]

More to do with a government that cut the EA budgets for years even when people were getting flooded out and farmers for years who have treated rivers as aquatic motorways to get water off their land as quickly as possible and the water is full of phosphates that they put into the ground which causes that green scum weed that chokes out the oxygen in the water.

[@mattwilson1213]

@jorvikangler well it removes the massive silt build up, deeper water, controlled plant life...if you want to know exactly how that changes the ecosystem then I'd recommend reading the mass of information online about it that I could never begin to explain as well as they do but Google is your friend

[@ianscrivener594]

Used to fish in the foss regularly in the 70s was the best river for miles around,until a total fish kill around 1977 left it lifeless,the river was never the same again

[@jorvikangler]

@@mattwilson1213 The only reason the Foss was ever dredged was for navigation purposes. I've talked with a variety of experts on the matter and it isn't a suitable solution for this river was it would slow the flow to just about stationary allowing it to heat up even more.