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PROVO — Approximately 300 fish in the Provo River are dead from unknown causes, the Division of Wildlife Resources says.
Mid-day Tuesday, the DWR began receiving calls about dead fish in a stretch of the Provo River that runs through the Paul Ream Wilderness Park, 1600 West and 500 North. Upon arriving, biologists discovered hundreds of dead fish between the main parking lot of the park and downstream to about 900 West.
Most of those fish were brown trout, about 10 to 16 inches long. About 20 mountain whitefish, another sport fish, and a small number of non-game sculpin and mountain suckers were also found dead. The June sucker, an endangered fish species endemic to the area, was not affected.
Chris Crockett, an aquatic biologist with the DWR said that as the division investigated the river and its fish, biologists found live trout swimming through the same stretch of the river.
Biologists did not find any traces of a chemical spill, but have not ruled it out.
Related:
Hundreds of goldfish found in Parleys Creek
The discovery of hundreds of goldfish in Parleys Creek has wildlife officials worried about the larger trend of people releasing aquarium fish into the wild, and the impact it has on native fish.“The difficult thing about fish kills is often, by the time someone reports it, in a flowing system like the Provo River, whatever had caused the kill if it was a chemical it’s already pushed through, if it’s low oxygen, that typically would have happened the night before,” Crockett said.
Though the water level in the area is low, it is comparable to measured levels within the last couple of weeks, Crockett said.
DWR cleared out about 150 to 200 fish bodies, but others remain. Crockett said the division does not consider the remaining bodies a problem or health hazard, as they were out of reach and will decay quickly, serving the insects in the area.
There should not be any lingering problems for anglers in the Provo River, though fishing may be somewhat slower over the next couple days, Crockett said. Currently, there are no plans to stock the river, but DWR biologists will re-evaluate the population this fall as a precaution.
Crockett used the fish deaths as a chance to remind people to use caution handling chemicals, especially those that end up in rivers like the Provo River.
“We do all live downstream,” Crockett said. “We did not see an indication of a chemical spill, but it is still a good opportunity to remind people to be careful of any sort of chemicals they are putting on their lawn or anything they might dump down the storm drain, that sort of thing. Especially right now, the fish are stressed.”
Top image: Ben Brown with the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) takes a measurement along the Provo River while conducting Water Quality assessments on the Provo River Thursday. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 Stuart Johnson, Deseret News (Submission date: 11/19/2009)
