Syracuse.com - DEC not reacting to Duck Lake 'fish kill' -- for now

HuntingNY-News · June 27, 2013

Local state Department of Environmental Conservation officials this morning said they were aware of a fish kill taking place on Duck Lake in Cayuga County, but at this point are not taking any action on it. Don Gage, of Volney, who has a camping trailer on the small, shallow, 1.2-mile-long lake, said there was nearly a dozen dead fish...

Local state Department of Environmental Conservation officials this morning said they were aware of a fish kill taking place on Duck Lake in Cayuga County, but at this point are not taking any action on it.

Don Gage, of Volney, who has a camping trailer on the small, shallow, 1.2-mile-long lake, said there was nearly a dozen dead fish floating around his dock Wednesday. He said he's heard from others around the lake of "100s) of dead, floating white perch, crappies, bluegills and bass.

"We've heard conflicting reports," said David Lemon, regional fisheries manager for the DEC's Region 7.

"One reliable source I talked to said it was mostly white perch and that it (the fish kill) started appearing last week," he said.

He said Duck Lake isn't the only place where fish kills have been reported recently. "In other areas, most of the reports have been about sunfish."

Lemon said fish that recently finished spawning are stressed and can be prone to bacterial or viral infections. He said with recent spikes in warm temperatures, it's just too much for some fish "and some just die."

He said at this point he's not sending staff up to Duck Lake to investigate or take samples for testing -- but will consider that if the fish kill continues. He said determining the reason behind a fish that's been dead and floating in the water for nearly a week is difficult.

Lemon suggested that if someone wants to help they try and collect a recently killed fish, freeze it and then hand it over to DEC officials for testing. The DEC's Cortland office, which oversees Cayuga County, can be reached at 1-607-753-9407.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog