10,000 fish die from unknown cause in Missouri’s Blue Springs Lake

June 8, 2012 – BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – Missouri conservationists are trying to solve a mystery in an area lake. What started as a couple dozen dead carp turned into more than 10,000 in Blue Springs Lake. Conservationists took water samples and couldn’t figure out exactly what caused the deaths. Their samples have now gone onto a national lab for further analysis. Between 500 and 1,000 carp have been killed everyday. Jake Allman, a biologist with the Missouri Conservation, started noticing carp with lesions under their scales the last few weeks. “There’s a little bacterium on the fish, but not enough to really have caused this,” Allman said. “This feeding activity where they are brushing up against each other can actually spread whatever is making them sick.” If Allman had his way, this kill would only continue. “Their spawning activity disrupts spawning of other fish. They root around in the shallows and uproot aquatic vegetation which is beneficial to native fish,” Allman explained. But it seems the carp are now starting to recover. Lake officials are now keeping an eye on the E. coli levels in the water. They had to close a swimming area during Memorial Day Weekend because of a threat of E. Coli from of all the dead fish. –KSBH

contribution by Emanni