Fish freezing to death in Irish cold snap

How cold is it in Ireland? It’s so cold that even the fish are freezing to death.

The latest victim of Ireland’s cold snap are salmon off the coast of Antrim. Thousands of salmon have frozen to death on a fish farm due to the plummeting temperatures and icy waters.

Employees at a research fish center in Bushmills are fighting against the clock as they attempt to save stocks from the sub-zero temperatures. However many have already died in waters which have been transformed into ice-rinks.

Martin Mc Aleese, the manager of the Government fish center said: “Every morning we are smashing ice and unless you keep the water running in the tanks overnight, they'll run out of oxygen. The fish suffocate.”

“These fish are vital, not only for angling, but for the research which has been going on for almost 40 years. If they don't survive, then that's a big gap in the research,” he told BBC radio Ulster.