The River Severn in the UK is facing alarming ecological challenges, with fish developing black, blister-like sores. Anglers and environmentalists have linked the issue to worsening pollution levels, including agricultural runoff and raw sewage discharges.

Water Quality Decline: Over 61% of sites exceeded phosphate limits, and nitrate levels surpassed acceptable thresholds in 60% of areas, significantly higher than in previous years. Excessive nutrients from farming and sewage cause eutrophication, depleting oxygen and harming biodiversity.

Sewage Pollution: In the past three years, over 53,000 raw sewage discharges occurred, lasting more than 429,000 hours.

Agricultural Impact: Intensive poultry farming contributes to 70% of phosphate pollution in rural areas. Over 51 million chickens are housed in industrial farms across three counties in the Severn and Wye valleys, that's 79 times more chickens than humans.

Citizen Action: Volunteers have collected nearly 1,000 water samples to monitor pollution and are raising awareness. Phil O’Callaghan and other anglers report declining water clarity, loss of aquatic plants, and worsening riverbed conditions.

Legal Efforts: Researcher Alison Caffyn is challenging new poultry farm approvals, citing biosecurity violations and the inability of current manure processing methods to prevent groundwater contamination.

Efforts to mitigate the crisis include Severn Trent's £450 million program to reduce storm overflow spills, which has shown initial improvements. However, activists stress the need for stronger regulatory measures to protect the river’s long-term health.

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