// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
My family have fished this river for 300 years - now pollution has killed all the fish
Keith's great-grandfather, William Elias - pictured here with Keith's cousin Malcolm - would make coracles
It is a centuries-old tradition in Wales, but coracle fishers on a major river have said pollution has meant there are "no fish" left.
Testing by campaign group Save the River Tywi showed evidence of industrial, agricultural and human waste pollution, with fishers saying they often see dead fish bobbing up and down in the water.
One fifth-generation coracle fisherman described the situation in Carmarthenshire as "dire" after only catching one fish in the three-month season between May and July.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it took all reports of pollution seriously and had "a number of ongoing enforcement and compliance investigations within the Tywi catchment".
Andrew Davies (left) and Keith Elias (right) worry that this could be the end of coracle fishing
The tradition of coracle fishing has been part of life on the Tywi for centuries.
Typically done at night, fishermen use small rounded boats with nets cast between them to catch salmon and sewin [sea trout].
It was once an important livelihood in west Wales, but today it is mostly a heritage tradition, rather than a full-time source of income.
US President Jimmy Carter even loved fishing in these rivers, but according to fishermen, recent pollution has made it impossible.