14 dead eels in River Arun not killed by pollution, Environment Agency says

Agency officers responded to the reports last Friday (August 19), after several residents described dead eels on a stretch of the River Arun from Arundel to Pulborough.

A spokesperson said: “Surveys carried out by our specialist fisheries officers suggest that there were no obvious signs of pollution, but samples have been taken and investigations are ongoing to confirm whether the eels died as a result of disease.

“We encourage members of the public to report any environmental incidents via our 24-hour free incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”

Responding to fish in distress and fish kill is part of the Environment Agency’s service to protect fish stocks and the fisheries they support. The organisation delivers this service on all waters where fishing takes place, including rivers still-waters and canals both private and public.

Rick Weeks, a resident of Arundel who contacted the Bognor Regis Observer and the Environment Agency after seeing a number of dead eels himself said: “Whatever it is, it’s got to be quite serious, because eels are quite tough creatures. Clearly there’s something going wrong.”

Mr Weeks said he saw well over ten dead eels floating on the surface of the River Arun, and first spotted the creatures because of the seabirds they attracted.

"It’s not like when you sometimes see huge swathes of dead fish, it’s a lot rarer than that. And of course they attract the gulls, who come because it’s easy food.”

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