Salmon population ‘wiped out’ in Scottish river after chemical spill

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency says it is investigating (Picture: Getty)

A pollution incident has killed a significant number of fish and other wildlife on a tributary of the River Spey in Scotland.

A chemical, thought to be caustic soda, is understood to have entered the water and ‘destroyed’ several species at the Knockando burn in recent days.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency says it is investigating a potential pollution incident on the burn.

Fly fishers say the salmon population at the burn has been wiped out and could take years to recover.

Duncan Ferguson, director of the Spey Fishery Board, said the pollution incident was one of the largest he had seen in 36 years of working on the river, with a two-kilometre stretch of the Knockando burn affected.