A resident of the community was near the gravel pit when he came across a number of dead fish.
Stephan Jones writes,
Our IRR Coordinator David Forbes was near the gravel pit location when he came across all these tiny dead fish. It's unusual because we haven't seen anything like this before so we don't know if it's common or not. We would like to know what kind of fish these are and we're wondering if they got there from the high water and were trapped when the water receded.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Consult:
Dr. Ted Meyers, State Fish Pathologist, writes, "There is not much to go on from the photos except that it is rare that any disease event causes this kind of mass mortality. The close-up image does not show any hemorrhage or discoloration with the fish appearing relatively normal. Therefore, an environmental event such as a mass stranding from flooding would be the most likely cause as previously reported." (Source: ADF&G Division of Commercial Fisheries)
Center for Science Public Participation (CSP2) Consult:
Dr. Carol Ann Woody, Fisheries Scientist writes, "I looked at the pictures. It is hard for me to tell what kind of fish they are but there are so many and based on the habitat they are in it seems likely they could have gotten trapped and run out of oxygen, too many breathing and using up all that was available in the water. If you see this again take a close up of one fish just capture the entire fish so we can see the whole thing. It is very good you reported this and make sure other people do this so we can keep track of odd occurrences. Thank you so much." Woody C., "The Fish Lady" (Source: CSP2 Projects)
LEO says:
In 2015, a similar fish die-off event was observed in the nearby community of Kongiganak, following a winter flood event. Observers attributed the flood to poor river ice conditions during a warmer-than-average winter. Another fish mortality event from this area occurred near Igiugug in September of 2014. Migrating ninespine sticklebacks, heading for Lake Iliamna, were blocked by gravel berms created by intense waves.
This observation has been shared with the Center for Science Public Participation (CSP2) and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Observations From Members