Heat and Fish Kills

[Mike Clifford]

With this extremely hot summer, we should be seeing plenty of this....and it isn't over.

 

A recent fish kill on the Iroquois River involved hundreds of specimens (mostly catfish).

It was determined that the cause was oxygen depletion due to a massive brown algae bloom that covered the water. Presumably, the Kankakee River has a faster flow and allows for more oxygen to enter the system...though this river is experiencing the same algae bloom.

[jim bielecki]

Hi Mike, I'm not familiar with how much oxygen algea consumes but I suppose hot temps coupled with decreasing Oxygen would pose a threat. I always thought moving river water absorbs enough oxygen all along the river...sucking it up and pushing it downstream. Did the fish have no other place to migrate...up river or into deeper holes? I'm asking because I'm wondering about methods to prevent fishkills like this. Are there methods the DNR uses to mitigate the effects of an algea bloom?

[Mike Clifford]

I got this info from a Northern Illinois Anglers Association newsletter I receive in the mail.

The Kankakee River Basin Commission got a late night call from NIAA President Sam Thomas about the kill and JR Black did some scouting the next morning.

When it was all said and done, 2 weeks later the IDNR, EPA, State Police and others had determined the cause and been a part of the process.

 

To answer your question, I'm not sure what role the IDNR would have in mitigating anything.

Their primary job is to react and respond.

Preventing algae blooms is the responsibility of government, citizens and grass roots organizations educating and affecting policy.

The causes for this are many, so the work is plenty.

 

The IDNR doesn't "regulate" how private landowners affect our rivers and streams, but they do advise.

If a factory farm was to be sited on your favorite stream, the Dept. of Agriculture would have the final say after months or years of court room battles.

Alage blooms are what is referred to as "non-point source" pollution (surface runoff), whereas a "point source" pollution might be something like a pipe discharging harmful waste, or a spill of some kind.

2 completely different animals with different approaches.

The initial process to determine the cause of a fish kill is likely the same in each case, but what is ultimately done with the results is anyone's guess in our urban, sub-urban and agricultural society.

For one stretch of river a farmer may have cut his field right to the stream's edge and have basically an indirect but significant affect nonetheless, and on another stretch downstream a train can dump it's contents and kill thousands of fish instantly.

 

In either case, luck usually plays a role in counting the dead fish, weather factors and much more.

 

The only opinion of my own I can add to it is that it sickens me that a poacher with a short fish in his bucket can cause so much outrage on internet fishing websites and blogs, but when thousands of fish are killed nobody gets out of their chair to get to the bottom of it.

That's always somebody else's job.

As long as that mindset continues to flourish, we'll continue to witness both cases above and wonder why it couldn't be stopped.

 

Keep worrying about all the poachers on the Kankakee, for instance.

Before long, you can stop worrying.

They don't exist where there are no fish to poach.

 

There's conservation, and there's grandstanding on the internet.

We all have individual choices where our energies are best focused.

 

You've got me on a long rant now....I'll end it here for now, as I do have some pretty radical ideas on all of this.

[Guest rich mc]

the fact of adding mid stream rocks will add oxygen and improve current which will mix it up. every little bit helps . rich

[Norm M]

Rich,

 

On a navigabie river which the Kankakee is you have to have a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before you may any modifications to the stream Even IDOT has to get an emergency permit before they can remove logs from the front of a bridge.

 

In most cases before any modification is allowed years of costly studies must be done.

[jim bielecki]

Rich,

 

On a navigabie river which the Kankakee is you have to have a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before you may any modifications to the stream Even IDOT has to get an emergency permit before they can remove logs from the front of a bridge.

 

In most cases before any modification is allowed years of costly studies must be done.

 

 

"The initial process to determine the cause of a fish kill is likely the same in each case, but what is ultimately done with the results is anyone's guess in our urban, sub-urban and agricultural society." .....So I guess that's where we are at with the process of protecting the resource then; what can we do with the results? Government agencies have seen this before several times....you would think they would know what to do and implement a plan to prevent fishkills like this. If you think about it, road construction is no different...it's done to prevent accidents. That brings me to another idea...millions of people use the roads and the government takes care of it and fixes it...why should the rivers be any different?...millions of people use them therefore, they should be taken better care of. Granted there isn't a risk to life, however, clean water benefits everybody. Water in our state is truly taken for granted, life can't flourish without it...you would think it would be treated like a precious metal like gold. Instead it's pushed aside and not really considered a priority.

 

My other idea addresses what Norm said....I know there is Rockfest every year on Shabbona...is there a way we can plan to do just one area per year on the Fox River and place some rock piles? I'm also curious about a stocking plan...channel cats....it would improve the fishery and attract more fisherman to the sport. The populations are just too low due to the pressure put on the fishery...why not stock them like other bodies of water that recieve a lot of pressure? Just an idea.

[Mike Clifford]

In my opinion, stocking rivers and streams with any species needs to be done with great caution. In the case of channel cats, remember they are going to compete for the same forage as other species (including smallmouth). Throwing off the balance can have negative results.

If a watershed is ecologically sustainable, angling pressure shouldn't make much of a difference. Fish multiply every year, replenishing the stock.

So long as we continue to smother these habitats with sand and sediment, and treat our resources like an unimportant facet of life itself.....well, you know what that means.