The Ministry of Natural Resources has concluded the bacteria columnaris killed more than a thousand fish along the Ottawa River. Columnaris is a common pathogen found in the river that can be deadly and contagious to fish when their immune systems are weakened by a stressful event, such as warmer water temperatures. Investigators patrolled the river between Cheneaux Falls Dam and Chats Falls Dam this past weekend and found no evidence of freshly killed fish, ministry spokesman Doug Skeggs said. The ministry continues to investigate the conditions that made it possible for the bacteria to take hold.