Fish farmers have called for an independent inquiry into the fish farm kill in Co Donegal, following the death of a minke whale in McSwyne's Bay.
More than 850,000 farmed salmon have died in Inver Bay and McSwyne's Bay over the past two months, and the Irish Salmon Growers' Association (ISGA) believes the whale fatality may be linked.
"No one from the authorities has investigated the cause of the whale's death to rule out similarities," Mr Richie Flynn, chief executive of the ISGA, said yesterday.
The Marine Institute is currently investigating the fish farm kill on behalf of the Department of the Marine, and the Minister, Mr Dermot Ahern, has said there is no evidence to suggest the mortalities are linked to the dumping of spoil from the €50 million development in Killybegs harbour.
However, the ISGA, which represents the three fish farms involved, believes the dumping of 200,000 tonnes of material from the harbour dredging may be the source of the water-borne irritant which affected the salmon. This material is toxic, according to the Irish Salmon Growers Association.
"We are very worried that the investigative machinery is not running as fast as it could be, when we may be looking at a potential environmental disaster in Donegal Bay," Mr Flynn said.
The farms affected by this problem have co-operated fully with the Department and its investigation team for over two months, he said.
"While the Department can say definitively that it knows that the fish did not die of disease, algal bloom, pollution from the land or negligence on the part of the farmers, it refuses to take a serious look at the only real change in the bay in the last 15 years - the dumping of silt from Killybegs harbour," Mr Flynn claimed.
"The dumping was licensed and overseen by the Department itself. Baseline surveys and follow-up reports on the dumpsite were commissioned by the Department.
"The Department holds this data and refuses to let us see it," he added.
The Department of the Marine said it was still awaiting the results of the Marine Institute investigation.