Thousands of fish die in western end of Raritan Bay

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/12/07

BY KEVIN PENTON
KEYPORT BUREAU

 Post Comment

KEYPORT — At least 150,000 and as many as 250,000 menhaden — a bait fish commonly known as bunker — died Monday in the western end of Raritan Bay, the largest fish kill this season, a Monmouth County health official said.

Heavy rains that stirred sediment, water temperatures above 80 degrees and low oxygen levels in the water contributed to kill the fish, said William Simmons, the Monmouth County Health Department's environmental health coordinator.

"This is a good-sized kill," Simmons said. "It's a big number, sure, but there have been higher."

In July 2000, 3.9 million bunker fish died in the Little Silver Creek, off the Shrews-bury River, he said.

Bunker, which swim together in large groups, routinely get into trouble when they enter pockets of water with lower levels of oxygen, said Simmons, who considers the large kills to be routine every year.

"If anything, that so many died is an indication of how many of them are out there this year," Simmons said. "It has to be a banner year for bunker."

While Simmons said he would be more concerned of the potential for water pollution to be a factor had other types of fish also been found dead, Cynthia A. Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, said there is a cause for concern.

"The water quality over the summer has not been great," said Zipf, who noted there have been several fish kills this season. "It calls for greater investigation and leadership from the state to find out why . . . this is a pattern and try to solve the problem."

Staff writer Todd B. Bates contributed to this story.

 print