Carp tests are in...

[urbanangler1990]

· Testing by the University of Guelph Fish Health Lab and the Fisheries and Oceans Canada lab has been completed for most of the carp submitted from the Kawartha Lakes this summer.

 

· The tests results indicate the bacteria Columnaris to be the primary cause of death in the fish die-offs. There were no viruses or other diseases found in the carp.

 

· Columnaris, a disease of fresh water fish, is caused by bacteria that lives naturally in water and mud.

 

· Columnaris has been associated with fish die-offs in the past, eg in channel catfish in the Ottawa River, 2006. It does not pose a threat to human health however it is still a good idea to wear gloves if handling dead fish.

 

· Large die-offs can occur when fish are under some type of stress and unable to fight off a disease. Stress in fish can be caused by high water temperatures, low levels of oxygen in the water, crowding such as occurs during spawning, or a combination of these factors. Bacteria like Columnaris can grow rapidly in these conditions and fish may become sick and die.

 

· Outbreaks of Columnaris do occur from time to time in the wild, and are almost impossible to prevent or treat.

 

· MNR has not documented any new locations of carp die off throughout the month of August within the Kawartha Lakes. MNR staff have been on Rice Lake over the last two weeks (and will be again this week) and have not observed any sick or dead carp.

[ccmtcanada]

Hey there...someone did post this and it doesn't make a lot of sense, since they didn't find columnaris in Scugog carp...where it all began. Oh well....what can you do?

[urbanangler1990]

hmm and this is directly from MNR