UNDIAGNOSED DIE-OFF, FISH - USA: (ARKANSAS), FRESHWATER DRUM
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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.
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ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
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[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.
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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/ll
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