CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island – Six farmers on Prince Edward Island have been ordered to make changes to their fields after thousands of fish washed up on the shores of two of the Island’s most pristine rivers late last month.

But John Clements of the Environment Department said Wednesday that after consulting with the Crown, the government has decided not to proceed with any charges.

Clements would not link the nine fields where problems were found to the fish kills that occurred on the Dunk and Tryon rivers on July 23.

“There’s no way that I can say that one of these fields is the culprit at this time,” he said.

Clements said there were loopholes in the provincial Environmental Protection Act that made conviction unlikely if charges were laid.

“Based on conversations with the Crown, we felt we might not be successful in court due to deficiencies in those sections,” Clements said in an interview, referring to the act.

“We’re going to take this legislation and do what we need to do to make it a better piece of legislation.”