Recent Fish Kill Question

Type: Tidal
Region: Southern
Location: Marley Creek

This past week I went fishing at one of my favorite places Marley Creek. It is where the boat is we leave from. I heard the reports of a fish kill there and wanted to see it for myself. I counted many species of dead fish on the beach as well as a few crabs. There was yellow perch, white perch, bluegill, shad or menhaden possibly, small rockfish.

Leaving the creeks we went out past Curtis Bay bridge I counted upwards of over 100 dead fish floating. As we came upon one of our favorite spots, the crabs where literally out of the water on top of broken pillings, and the sides of the concrete pier. Assuming there was low oxygen levels that's what made them hang out of the water. This has been my favorite place since I was a kid, what has happened there and how long before it gets back to good fishing and crabbing?

MDE Response: The fish kill events are due to low dissolved oxygen resulting from the die off of strong spring algal blooms as the water temperatures rise. Most of these events are winding down or over. In some areas water quality has improved at the surface as other algal species succeed the spring Prorocentrum bloom. That said, we wouldn't be surprised if we get reports from other areas where the algae has yet to die off.

As to the underlying cause, we feel that the largest contributors to this year�s events are the storms Irene and Lee which produced a huge amount of nutrient runoff and the warm winter which gave the blooms an unusually long window to get started and build. The sewage spill (along with other sources) in the Patapsco didn't help, but some people compare the flows and loadings of last year�s storms to Agnes - it was a rare set of events. These sorts of events highlight the need for comprehensive nutrient control strategies throughout the entire Bay watershed.