Meeting held over ‘heart-wrenching’ blue-green algae | UK News

The ongoing pollution crisis at Lough Neagh is “heart-wrenching” to watch, a public meeting has been told.

Fisherman Gary McErlain was speaking at the Kinturk Cultural Centre in County Tyrone on Monday evening.

About 100 people attended the meeting to hear from several speakers including elected representatives and campaigners.

The meeting follows a third summer of blue-green algae blooms, which have covered the lough.

The algae has been detected more than 100 times across Northern Ireland this year, with the majority of sightings in Lough Neagh and the Lower Bann, as well as Lough Erne.

The Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-Op recently extended a ban on commercial eel fishing at the lough earlier this summer.

Mr McErlain asked the public meeting: “How have we got to this again?

“This is something we can’t fix ourselves. We are asking politicians: ‘What are you doing to help us?’

“We need politicians to be working on our behalf.”

The public meeting follows a number of events during the summer that focused on the ongoing issues at Lough Neagh.

In August, a fisherman told a demonstration that the UK’s largest freshwater lake was “already dead”.

Bernadette McAliskey, from Lough Neagh Development Trust, said Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir was trying to tackle the issue but was “not succeeding”.

“If we want to save the lough, we’ll not be saved from up on high. We’ll have to do it ourselves and we’ll not do it by bickering about whose fault it is.”

Ms McAliskey told the meeting: “People keep talking about what will happen if the lough dies.

“The lough is over 400 million years old and will be here when we are not.

“It may be different, but it will still be here.

“It may though be unable to sustain life, plant life, insect life, bird life – that’s what’ll disappear.”

The science shows the pollution problem in Lough Neagh comes largely from agriculture, with some from wastewater processing, septic tank seepage and industrial pollution around the shores.

John McLenaghan, from the Ulster Farmers Union, said “as farmers we have never walked away from this issue”.

“There has been misinformation.

“But we as farmers, we recognise the importance of the lough and the importance of water quality.

“It’s not about a blame game. It’s important to keep balance here.”

Technically known as cyanobacteria, blue-green algae is a collection of microscopic organisms that are naturally present in lakes and streams.

Under certain conditions, blue-green algae can become abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed, nutrient-rich surface waters that receive a lot of sunlight.

When this occurs, blue-green algae can form blooms that discolour the water, or produce floating mats or scums on the water’s surface.

The algae are bacteria, which can cause skin irritation and sickness in people who come into contact with it, but the biggest risk is to pets, livestock and wildlife.

Potential solutions to the blue-green algal problem in Lough Neagh have been piloted as part of the executive’s action plan.

There are two small business research initiatives are under way, looking at solutions and using technology to monitor the algae. The second phase of both is due to be announced soon.

Among the potential solutions is a “bubble barrier”.

Another initiative looked to space, using drone and satellite technology to predict and detect when and where algal blooms may form.

Other schemes, meanwhile, may seek to address the main source of pollution in the lough – from agricultural sources.

The Sustainable Utilisation of Livestock Slurry (SULS) was launched before the action plan but is included in it – it aims to tackle Northern Ireland’s manure surplus.

The Soil Nutrient Health Scheme is in its final year, with every field in Northern Ireland being tested for its nutrient content.

However, it is likely to be several years before these or any of the other potential solutions could become active, or have a direct impact on the lough.

More immediately, the Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) seeks to address water pollution from agricultural sources.