ST JOHN’S – The death of thousands of fish over the past few days, has been attributed to the drought conditions now affecting the island.
According to the chief environment officer in the Ministry of Health and Environment, Diann Black-Layne, based on the initial assessment, the fish died, due to the shortage of oxygen in the water.
“The water at the edges is normally one foot [deep] and now it’s about one inch,” she said. “Pollution in the pond would also cause bacteria to grow and further decrease the amount of oxygen.”
The chief environment officer said “the fish kill” is a normal occurrence around dry months such as in the summer.
She added that the water has been tested and the results will help to determine if any other factors contributed to the incident.
She also said that the huge depletion of water in the pond is an indicator that this summer will be a very hot one. (CMC)
