Re: Arkansas river- Several thousand dead fish, primarily Drum fish - Health Department advising not to eat any of the dead fish
<TABLE id=apex_layout_271110100662109808 class=formlayout border=0 summary=""><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Archive Number</TD><TD noWrap align=left>20110104.0035</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Published Date</TD><TD noWrap align=left>04-JAN-2011</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Subject</TD><TD noWrap align=left>PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (AR), freshwater drum</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
UNDIAGNOSED DIE-OFF, FISH - USA: (ARKANSAS), FRESHWATER DRUM
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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[1]
Date: Mon 3 Jan 2011
Source: CNN [edited]
<
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/01/02/arkansas.fish.kill/>
Arkansas officials are investigating the death of an estimated 100
000 fish in the state's northwest, but suspect disease was to blame,
a state spokesman said Sunday [2 Jan 2011].
Dead drum fish floated in the water and lined the banks of a 20-mile
[32 km] stretch of the Arkansas River near Ozark, about 125 miles
[200 km] northwest of Little Rock, said Keith Stephens of the
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. A tugboat operator discovered the
fish kill Thursday night [30 Dec 2010], and fisheries officials
collected some of the dying animals to conduct tests.
Stephens said fish kills occur every year, but the size of the latest
one is unusual, and suggested some sort of disease was to blame. "The
fish kill only affected one species of fish," he said. "If it was
from a pollutant, it would have affected all of the fish, not just drum fish."
Ozark is about 125 miles [200 km] west of the town of Beebe, where
game wardens are trying to find out why up to 5000 blackbirds fell
from the sky just before midnight New Year's Eve [31 Dec 2010].
There has also been a die-off of birds in Arkansas. Biologists
believe the bird deaths were stress-related from either fireworks or
weather and are unrelated to the fish kill near Ozark, Stephens said.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[2]
Date: Mon 3 Jan 2011
Source: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC) [edited]
<
http://www.agfc.com/Pages/newsDetails.aspx?show=147>
Anglers and residents along the Arkansas River near the Ozark Lock
and Dam wrapped up 2010 witnessing more than 83 000 dead and dying
fish on the surface of the river.
According to Chris Racey, AGFC assistant chief of fisheries, the fish
kill was reported on 29 Dec 2010 and covered about 17 miles [27 km]
of river from the Ozark Lock and Dam downstream to River Mile 240,
directly south of Hartman, Arkansas.
Bob Limbird, district fisheries biologist for the Russellville area,
said, "We started receiving reports on Wednesday night. (AGFC
Fisheries Management Biologist) Frank Leone and Wildlife Officer Ben
Sisk arrived at dark and scanned the water with a spotlight. They saw
a lot of dead fish on the shore and decided to come back with more
manpower Thursday morning [30 Dec 2010] to properly assess the situation."
On Thursday [30 Dec 2010], 17 AGFC personnel loaded into 6 boats and
surveyed the stretch of river affected by the kill. "We sampled the
south bank along the river channel," said Limbird. "Most of the fish
were concentrated from the dam to Okane, with a few here and there
stretching almost to Horsehead Creek."
About 99 percent of the dead fish (about 82 680 estimated fish) were
freshwater drum. A few yellow bass, white bass, and sauger were found
in sampled areas, but may be unrelated to the drum kill.
"Most of the fish were freshwater drum between 6 [15 cm] and 11
inches [28 cm] long," said Limbird. "We picked up 5 drum that were
dying and submitted them to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
for testing."
The fish samples are being analyzed, but it could take up to 30 days
for full test results.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
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[Drum fish (_Aplodinotus grunniens_) may go by a variety of names
including, gaspergou, gou, sheepshead, and of course, drum fish.
These fish are native through North America, from Canada through
Mexico. They can grow quite large, as the world record is over 54
pounds [24.5 kg].
It remains relatively odd that primarily only drum fish are dead.
Toxins would likely affect other fish. While there are other fish
affected, they are very few. If this were a school of fish and some
one decided to dynamite them out of the water, perhaps we might get
this kind of kill, but even that is doubtful. This is extensive in
scope and numbers.
We look forward to results of the necropsy and testing results.
A photo of the freshwater drum fish may be found at
<
http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/popup.cfm?photo=25> - Mod.TG]
[The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Arkansas is available
at <
http://healthmap.org/r/0l2D>. - Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
[ProMED-mail would like to thank the many subscribers who sent the
same or similar articles on this event. - Mod.MPP]
[see also:
2010
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Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA (05): (MI) RFI
20100618.2056
Undiagnosed fish die-off - Canada: (ON)
20100613.1987
Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA (04): (WV, OH, PA) columnaris
20100610.1946
Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA (03): (WV, OH, PA)
20100601.1827
Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA (02): (NJ) koi herpesvirus susp.
20100528.1773
2006
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Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA (WA): botulism susp.
20060621.1709]
...................................tg/mj/mpp
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