Massive fish kill in a reservoir in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico

Again, the Refugio de Vida Silvestre La Plata Reservoir in Toa Alta, reported a mass death of thousands of fish, this time, after heavy rainfall recorded this weekend.

The Refuge Management Officer of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), Marinelly Valentine, said thousands of sardines and hundreds of other fish like red devil (red devil) died. As pointed out, the fish are scattered throughout the reservoir and this episode of death is of greater magnitude to before when the storm passed Bertha.

The death was caused by the reduction in the level of dissolved oxygen available in the water. Prior to the storm, the dam Silver had low levels of water and oxygen. The mixture of large amount of water and oxygen that entered the reservoir was available to momentarily create a column with very little oxygen that kills living beings that are trapped in that area.

Valentine believes that this death was not caused by discharges of pollutants during the tropical wave that passed by Puerto Rico on Friday and Saturday; that being the case, there would be an overall mortality in all species.

“Experience tells me that sardines are the first to die when dissolved oxygen levels in the reservoir are reduced,” said Valentine.

DNER Secretary, Carmen Guerrero Pérez, said that “in these times of Department staff and the Water and Sewerage Authority are conducting a tour of the dam to assess the damage and begin collecting data that will culminate in tomorrow for and have a clear picture of what happened during the event of rain this weekend. The area of ​​recreational fishing, including the ramp, the Wildlife Refuge Reservoir La Plata had to be closed to the public from Sunday morning to carry out the processes of assessment, monitoring and ecological management, like cleaning and collected from dead fish. “

Holder called on citizens to not to eat these dead fish because although the reason of death was lack of dissolved oxygen, they decompose rapidly and may pose a health risk to consumers.

Fish species that inhabit this reservoir are adapted to live in fresh water and serve as indicators of water conditions of our reservoirs. Thus, biology serves ally in managing water quality of the water intakes of AAA. For this reason, official management of natural areas are in constant communication and work collaboratively with technical staff that manages water intakes in reservoirs of the AAA. The situation was reported to the AAA to take management measures that apply in water intakes and the potability of the water supply is ensured.