June 4, 2008
Some pictures of sick fish from the James River
I spent a couple of hours Tuesday on the James River with Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist Scott Smith and fisheries technician Cory Kovacs. They were electroshock sampling as part of their continuing efforts to monitor the fish kill situation in the James and its Jackson and Cowpasture river tributaries. Scientists have yet to determine the cause of the kills, as well as the similar kills the past five years in the Shenandoah system.
\As this picture shows, the findings Tuesday weren't pretty. About a third of the fish shocked up showed some level of illness, mostly in the form of lesions of sores. As you can see from these pictures, some were pretty nasty.
Smith and Kovacs planned to be back on the river at a different site on Wednesday and I haven't heard from them how that went.
If there is good news here, it is that what I saw Tuesday was similar to what I saw on a similar electroshocking trip this time last year. And when it was all said and done, Smith said the estimated mortality on the river last year was about 10 percent.
Considering that natural mortality is probably around 5 percent, that might not seem that bad. Certainly, it could be worse. (Mortality has been thought to hit 80 percent among some species in some sections of the Shenandoah in certain years.)
But that 10 percent adds up. Plus, there's some evidence that suggests that mortality rates may be higher in larger fish.
A lot of speculation and accusations are floating around out there about what might be causing this. Those of us who love the Cowpasture or Jackson or James want to blame someone or something. But there's still no proof. The best thing we can do is keep on top of this, making sure the groups investigating these problems stay on top of the investigation.
Is the team, at the center of which is the specially appointed Shenandoah River Fish Kill Task Force, doing everything it can to solve the mystery? Given the available resources, I think yes. I wish they had more resources, of course.
So do they.
Comments
[June 5, 2008 11:03 AM]
Bob PitnerSick fish first showed up on the Shenandoah, in the heart of poultry country. Later, when sick fish start showing up on the James, Jackson and pristine Cowpasture, it turns out that farmers have been importing chicken litter to firtilize their fields in this region. While it may be difficult to tag a specific toxin or pathogen to the outbreak, the correlation to the spread of chiken litter to the outbreaks is surely more than coincidental. And the state is even subsidizing the exporting of chicken litter from the Shenandoah region to pollute the streams in other parts of the state! Why aren't we reading about the probable connection in the press? It would seem to offer an excellent opportunity for some investigative jounalism.
[June 5, 2008 11:45 AM]
scottThis scale of fish kill, and the mystery surrounding it, should be front page news.
Perhaps our river systems have reached the tipping point with non point source pollution.
It is a sad commentary that when we lost what used to be one of the nation's premier smallmouth rivers no one (and I mean in the general public, not anglers, conservationists, etc) really noticed.
[June 5, 2008 2:15 PM]
Mark TaylorThanks for the comments, Bob and Scott.
Scott, I don't disagree. When the problems showed up on the James last year I did a page one story in The Roanoke Times. And I actually kept a couple pictures from Tuesday in the bag because I hope to do something that ends up there once the scientists from Virginia Tech and USGS get through the current round of tests they're doing. (I wrote about those tests in a recent column.)
As for the poultry thing, Bob, obviously that's something the researchers are looking into. Yet while plenty of concerned citizens have concluded that there must be a connection, the scientists haven't. Actually, when I asked Scott Smith about poultry litter the other day, he pointed out that there are plenty of watersheds with significant poultry litter that don't have problems like those in the James and Shenandoah watersheds.
That doesn't mean poulty litter isn't a contributor. The experts just don't know enough to place the blame there.
So I guess that's a long way of way saying that the reason you're not reading about the "connection" in the press is because a connection hasn't been scientifically established.
Because so many citizens are concerned about the poultry litter issue, I will likely address it in my next significant update on the investigation.
Thanks again for the comments and for reading.
mt
[June 5, 2008 2:30 PM]
Mark TaylorHere's a pretty interesting article about poultry litter challenges -- and potential solutions being looked into -- from another part of the country.
http://www.ozarksmagazine.com/index.html?p=51
[June 5, 2008 10:28 PM]
B.S.Mark:
If you are going to post links to obscure (and dated) magazine articles, how about posting this link as well:
www.tricities.com/tri/sports/high_school_prep/article/-TRI_2008_04_30_0035/8710/
(If link is not hot, cut and post into your browser)
Just a tad different perspective, given that it is relatively current, relates to the actual situation in Virginia and not some reactionary out-of-state theory, and it actually quotes credible scientists, not speculative reactionaries like Mr. Pitner and his ilk.
[June 6, 2008 9:07 AM]
Mark TaylorB.S.,
Thanks for the comment and the link.
I don't think that Ozarks magazine article is obscure, nor as dated as you might presume. I agree it would be nice if the site had included the date it was published because that reference to data from 2001 is confusing.
And while it might be from another state, I think it's relevant. It shows that questions about poultry litter practices don't exist just here.
I also think it's interesting because while it brings up a number of issues related to litter and runoff, there is no mention of established links to acute fish kills. (It mentions that litter can cause algae blooms that could kill fish, which is something we're not seeing here.)
As for George Grant's column, if it was Don Kain who had said that agriculture has "moved way down on the list" after the problems surfaced on the Cowpasture, I wish he had actually quoted Kain. As it is, that line itself appears fairly speculative. Not that George did anything wrong. It's a column so he can do that if he wants to.
Which brings me back to the point I made in my response to Bob and Scott: Scientists can't blame poultry litter, but they haven't ruled it out, either.
Again, thanks for taking the time to contribute to this important discussion.
mt
[June 6, 2008 11:03 AM]
JimI'm headed to the Cowpasture and upper James with a couple friends on Saturday to do a float and fish. This is our fifth annual trip. The first three years, I caught 100+ fish, last year I didn't even catch 30. I hope the number doesn't drop again. In 10 years I don't want to be telling my children about what used to be the "best" smallmouth fishing in Virginia, I'd like for them to experience it first hand on the Cowpasture and Upper James.
We have to figure out what is causing the fish kills and do what is necessary to eliminate them. It's very scary that they still haven't figured out what is going on in the Shenandoah, because the fish kill there has been going on for a longer period of time. It's time for the government to fully fund the necessary research to figure this mystery out, else, the state will lose some of it's most valuable resources.
jimI'm taking the camera, I don't think that I can post photos to the blog, but maybe I can send them to Mark.
[June 6, 2008 11:09 AM]
ScottAnd just to add mud to the discussion, let's never forget that the smallmouth bass population in our section of Virginia (with the exception of waters in the new river drainage)did not have smallies until we put them there in the 1900's.
Up until that point, and Mark please correct me if I'm wrong, the top shelf predators were spawning stripers, rock bass, and catfish.
[June 6, 2008 11:32 AM]
Mark TaylorJim,
I, too, hope your trip isn't a disaster this weekend. Please post a report when you get back.
Also, make sure you send your report to fishreports@deq.virginia.gov. It goes straight to Don Kain, who copies other members of the SRFKTF.
If you get some pictures, e-mail me a couple and I can post them here.
Scott, I'm not that familiar with the distant history of the smallmouth fisheries we're talking about. But I think you're right about the New having the native population while the others are established. I also think that those predatory flathead cats are relative newcomers, too. I'll put a bug in Va. fisheries guru Bob Jenkins' ear and maybe he can enlighten us.
mt
[June 7, 2008 7:26 PM]
SpencerI have been fishing the james from Eagle Rock to Natural Bridge and beyond since 1994. I have seen a steady decline in both quantity and quality of smallies. For the past 2 years I have been unable to fish at all (shame on me) but we are planning a trip for this Friday (6/13/08) and I am anxious to see how good the fishing is (optimism at work)
I will try to post a summary of the trips and any relevant photos as well.
[June 9, 2008 6:40 PM]
Mark TaylorSpencer,
I wish I could have experienced the river in the early days because I can't imagine it being much better than it was some years in the early 2000s.
Good luck this Friday. I hope you take a few minutes to post a report.
mt