Kilkeel harbour: Worries about structural integrity of fish run

Concerns have been raised about the integrity of a structure which allows two rivers to flow into Kilkeel harbour.

The County Down town is home to Northern Ireland's largest fishing fleet.

A section of the structure where the rivers Kilkeel and Aughrim converge has broken away in recent weeks.

At its centre is a fish run which allows species such as salmon to move out of the harbour into the rivers.

However, in recent weeks water has been draining out of the run, while water gushes out of a large hole further down the concrete slope.

This hole can be seen in photographs taken when the water level was lower.

On Monday morning at low tide, the fish run was emptying out near the top as water could be seen bubbling in an area closer to the harbour.

Retired fisherman Leslie Girvan said he believed the structure was built in the 1970s and that it appeared "the concrete of the fish pass" was undermined.

"I fished out of Kilkeel harbour here for more than 40 years," he said.

"I retired 20 years ago, but I still own a fishing boat here in the harbour.

"The amount of water coming down that river now, we've never seen that before.

"It's actually 'boiling' out of it to an extent that it appears to have undermined the concrete of the fish pass.

"It goes in at the top end and has hollowed out and comes boiling out in the harbour."

Democratic Unionist Party councillor Glyn Hanna said the issue was causing concerns to both the fishing industry and conservationists.

"Salmon go up there as well as other breeds of fish who come here to spawn in the summer so it would cause major havoc later in the summer," he said.

"Where the concrete is failing is at water level.

"That would affect the floor of the harbour eventually.

"I know the Harbour Authority had engineers down most of last week trying to find out what is going on."

Mr Hanna said there were also efforts to establish which government agencies were responsible for the repair of the structure.

"Someone has to take responsibility before it gets out of hand," he said.

"The Harbour Authority is responsible for the harbour - but with the two rivers merging and going through this into the harbour where are the boundaries?

"Hopefully we will get this resolved quickly."

The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Department for Infrastructure have been contacted for comment.