Massive fish kills in bayous hit by BP oil spill
By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune
Monday, September 13, 2010, 3:42 PM Plaquemines Parish officials have asked state wildlife officials to investigate what they said is a massive fish kill at Bayou Chaland on the west side of the Mississippi River late Friday. Photographs the parish distributed of the area shows an enormous amount of dead fish floating atop the water. The fish kill was reported to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and the cause has not yet been determined, the parish said. The fish were found in an area that has been impacted by the oil from the BP oil spill, the parish said.
The dead fish include pogies, redfish, drum, crabs, shrimp and freshwater eel, the parish said. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he has asked Wildlife & Fisheries for a quick determination of the cause. The parish has also requested testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “We can’t continue to see these fish kills,” Nungesser said in a news release. “We need some additional tests to find out why these fish are dying in large numbers. If it is low oxygen, we need to identify the cause.” A recent fish kill in nearby St. Bernard Parish was attributed to low oxygen levels in the water.
