Real Talk!

Starting June 4th, a significant number of fish (mostly carp) began floating belly-up in Lake Scugog, the Scugog River, Sturgeon Lake, Cameron Lake, Pigeon Lake, Chemong Lake and Buckhorn Lake.

Residents were warned to wear rubber gloves, sterilize all tools used to retrieve the bodies and double bag the dead fish, for disposal.

The MNR claims there have been no spills or known acts of pollution in these lakes and there have been no known sewage leaks.

On the 23rd of July, Osprey Media reported they had interviewed a number of residents who complained of smell from tonnes of dead fish- mostly carp but some bass, on their waterfront. The cause of death is being investigated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans lab in Nanaimo, B.C. and also by the University of Guelph’s fish health lab.

On July 28th, a waste removal company reported that they had removed 8,000 pounds of dead fish from 94 homes, located primarily on Chemong Lake. They also noted that the number of calls for pick up was increasing. MNR estimates some 4,000 to 10,000 carp have turned up dead thus far.

An MNR spokesman stated that the responsibility for collecting fish remains rests with the landowner. The Ministry has no plans to collect the dozens of dead carp that are tangled in the weeds offshore. JJ Beechie, explained that it the problem appears to be a natural infection of some type and that until the test results are known and prove otherwise, it is possible that this is a natural cycle.

Preliminary test results from the Guelph lab have found some evidence of “columnaris bacteria” in the Sturgeon Lake fish. Usually the columnaris bacteria is responsible for secondary infection- in fact, it often takes advantage of fish that are “stressed out”. Some reasons cited for the stress are spawning and warm water conditions and biologists are adamant that the bacteria are most likely not the root cause of death.

Back in 1960, after the spring thaw, thousands of fish floated dead in the Scugog Lake waters. One MNR conservation officer recorded 92,000 dead fish in a 7.8km square area on the lake. The thousands of lively catfish, still active in the lake and capable of surviving in low oxygen environments, bolstered the MNR theory that the muskie, carp, small mouth bass and perch had been suffocated under the extremely thick layer of ice that year. Usually one would see cracks in the ice, but in 1960, there were none.

I’ve heard whispers that this year there was a seeding of some type in the affected lakes. They speak of some kind of white pebbly substance and suggest that the fish have eaten it and it was probably some sort of pesticide… but that is likely small town gossip.

Apparently the water is all being re-tested.

Whatever it is, Jim Adams, a lake resident feels that he is watching a lake die. He is quoted as saying, “There's something seriously wrong here. Normally the lake is covered with thousands of geese and seagulls. Where are they all? They know something we don't."