Dead Carp washing up on Long Lake
April 14, 2009
Spokesman Review, News Releases and River Forum Staff
At Long Lake, hundreds of dead carp are washing up on beaches, collecting under docks and creating a stink for residents living along the 24-mile reservoir.
“If you’re water-skiing on the lake, you see them constantly,” said Jeff Braviroff, a Suncrest resident who started noticing the dead fish about a week ago. “There’s so many of them. … It’s going to be nasty when they really start to decay.”
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) sent out an officer to investigate the fish kill over the weekend. Officer Bob Weaver said he spotted dead aquatic plants as well as dead carp.
Officials from Ecology and WDFW do not believe it’s being caused by low oxygen or contaminants. “All the species of fish in Lake Spokane would have been affected if there were toxic pollutants,” said Mike Hepp of Ecology. “In addition, we would see small fish dying as well as larger fish, and that’s not the case here.”
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) district fish biologist Chris Donley said the die-off may have occurred because of spawning stress on the carp and temperature fluctuations. “Since all the dead carp appear to be adult fish, it’s highly possible they came near shore to spawn when it was cool a few weeks ago, waited around for the warmer water temperatures they prefer, then were stressed with very elevated water temperatures very quickly, and became susceptible to natural pathogens like bacteria or viruses,” Donley explained. “Things like this happen more often than most people realize, usually with fish carcasses either sinking to lake bottoms or decomposing in remote areas where no one sees them.”
What to do with the smelly carcasses is another question. The most common suggestion to be rid of the smell and sight of the fish carcasses more quickly is to bury them, taking standard personal-hygiene precautions such as using gloves and thoroughly washing equipment.
Alycia Staggs and her husband, Eric, collected a bucketful of bloated carp from the beach of their Nine Mile Falls residence. “It’s really a horrible smell – something between dead fish and rotting flesh,” Alycia Staggs said.
Bottom-dwelling carp are abundant in Long Lake, where they reach weights of up to 15 pounds or greater. They spawn in June, creating roiling patches in the water.
The carp are easy prey during spawning season. Hunters are allowed to harpoon the carp or take them with a bow and arrow. Avista initially received reports of about 60 speared carcasses dumped into the middle of the lake, Imhof said.
In Idaho, reports of dead fish have also turned up at Spirit Lake and Blanchard Lake. In those areas, fluctuating water temperatures are the culprit, said Jim Fredericks, regional fishery manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.