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Hundreds of dead catfish have been surfacing in the Arnprior area along the Ottawa River since last week, causing a state of heightened alert among the public and government officials. The sightings prompted the Renfrew County District Health Unit yesterday to advise residents to avoid swimming in affected areas until further notice.
Although bottom-feeding catfish appear to be the primary victims, there have also been reports of dead bass, walleye, perch, sunfish, and at least one turtle.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of the Environment are investigating, focusing on the 25-kilometre stretch of river between Braeside and the Chats Falls Dam.
“We’re really in operational mode here, trying to figure out what the heck is going on,” said Doug Skeggs, special projects officer with Natural Resources’ Pembroke district, who has received about 100 calls from worried residents since last Tuesday. “Whether it is an event that’s already occurred, which we are just seeing the end of, or whether it’s something continuing to occur—we don’t even know that.”
Mr. Skeggs said there are elements in the story that lead him to believe this is not a natural occurrence. He said a simple increase in water temperature, for example, which would deplete the river’s oxygen levels and kill certain fish, would not explain the defined geographic region or the species it has affected.
Meredith Brown, executive director of environmental group The Ottawa Riverkeeper, believes there must be a human cause, partly because fresh carcasses keep turning up.
“So it’s not like it was one event like a big blast. It’s something that’s a little more ongoing. We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Ms. Brown, who has collected reports of mass dead fish sightings as far upstream as Cheneaux Falls.
At their cottage on the river just east of Arnprior, Ron and Nicolien Lamb said that last Wednesday, their beach was littered with dozens of bloated, dead catfish. Since then, the couple have been clearing 20 to 30 large fish every day from a 60-metre stretch along their waterfront. Mr. Lamb said he is not letting his three children, all under the age of 12, swim in the river until he finds out what is causing the deaths.
“All my kids have talked about for a year is swimming and messing around in the water with their friends,” said Mr. Lamb, an Ottawa native who now lives with his family near San Francisco. “But basically all they are doing now is cleaning out dead fish.”