Bad times on Narragansett Bay - major pollution problems....

[JohnR]

From Providence Journal -

'Perfect recipe' for fish kill
Carcieri wants report on how to prevent another incident

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 22, 2003

BY BARBARA POLICHETTI
Journal Staff Writer


WARWICK -- The air was sour with the stench of rotten eggs yesterday morning as state biologist Arthur Ganz maneuvered his skiff through Apponaug Cove to view the aftermath of Wednesday's massive fish kill caused by polluted, oxygen-depleted water.

"See that," Ganz said pointing to an oily sheen that covered most of the cove. "Menhaden are a very oily fish and that is caused as they decompose."

Although there was no wind yesterday morning, the cove water seemed to flutter, and Ganz said that the motion was caused by thousands of tiny silverside fish swarming just below the surface.

"They're coming up to the top in an attempt to find oxygen," Ganz said. Unfortunately the meter readings that he and his assistant -- University of Rhode Island graduate student Julie St. Andre -- were taking yesterday showed that there is little oxygen to be found in the bay water, with levels yesterday only slightly higher than Wednesday.

Ganz and other environmentalists estimated that more than a million fish -- mostly small, juvenile menhaden -- were killed Wednesday as the oxygen levels in Greenwich Bay dropped to near zero due to an algae bloom fed by pollutants.

The rest of the story id here: http://www.projo.com/news/content/pr...ish.84c2c.html

First, as a resident of the Bay area and pretty close to this area I'm pissed and nervous that like many things Rhode Island, this will continue for years to come. To give you an example about this state, they need to build a 40 million dollar bridge 'cause they were too cheap to do the 10K dollar anual maintenance... Anyway, I'm not confident on how quickly this will be properly addressed...

Secondly and secondary to the main problem, they say there may have been a million Juvy Menhaden killed in this Cove and that other fish kills due to blooms are possible at anytime in many places in the Bay. How many more are going to die and how many less forage fish will there be for the annual massive schools of fish to feed on? Will these massive schools come to the upper reaches of the bay with these lousy conditions? Will the fishing be way offd this year?

[fishweewee]

That's bad. What kind of pollutants are causing the algae bloom? Industrial discharge? Municipal sewage? Fertilizer runoff? Piles of Zipperhead droppings?

We seen smaller kills in Western LI Sound simply resulting from hot weather (= less dissolved oxygen). Wonder what the combination of hot weather and skeevy water would do.

[JohnR]

Originally posted by fishweewee
That's bad. What kind of pollutants are causing the algae bloom? Industrial discharge? Municipal sewage? Fertilizer runoff? Piles of Zipperhead droppings?

We seen smaller kills in Western LI Sound simply resulting from hot weather (= less dissolved oxygen). Wonder what the combination of hot weather and skeevy water would do.

Mostly extensive open untreated sewer runoff, rain sewer overflow, leaking septic systems, fertilizer / lawn care runoff, and I even heard washing boats at the marinas..

That coupled with relatively calmer waters, very hot temps has effed large areas of the bay by supercharging the algae which then disolves the oxygen when the algae "respires" in bio terms, whatever that means, but I'm guessing that it's cyclical over the course of day night as the algae dies off in the sun and then reinvigorates itself on the oxygen and nutrients at night.

The bay looks silver gray from the lack of oxygen and the microscopic algae....

[fishweewee]

Yikes.

So you're telling me when I'm getting sloshed around by the waves at Beavertail I also getting bathed in raw sewage?

[JohnR]

Well - it's diluted a bit so probably not as dangerous to you as the freshly crapped bird poop geetting washed off the roost right next to where you are wading - ever think of that? (see, ya just can't win!).

[fishweewee]

[hq2]

Do you suppose this is going to affect the bluefish run in September at Conimicut and Barrington Beach? I hope not!

[Saltheart]

Respires is like respirates. that is , it used up the oxygen to "breath" although algae doesn't breath like a mamal.

Lots of tiemthe algae bloom is do to an over abundance of nitogen containing minerals in the water. That could come from a lot of things like the sewage and fertilizer mentioned.

Fish kills happen a lot but it appears to be spread out. I remember a fishkill in CT one time where the oxygen level was soo low the crabs were crawling out of the water onto the docks to get some air.

I would say it will effect the fishing. If its the only one , it shouldn't hurt on a large scale but if it happens a few times in the bay , then there would be no forage to keep the bass around the area during the fall run.

[Clammer]

fishing wille fine & yes the @#$%^&^ bluefish will &{are} at Barrington

[Captian Unagi]

If you think about how much rain we've had this summer, its no suprise that the storm drains are dumping so much poop into the bay.. I'm not surprised that this happened.. its sad, but I dont think it will happen agian unless it rains as much as it has these past 2 months- I'll be fishing outside the bay after this mess-

[lennyr]

I feel your pain. We here in buzzards bay are still feeling the effect of the oil spill. Miles of polluted coast and no one in jail. When will we wake up. Don't forget that disrupting the food change effects every fisherman in some way. So your problem today will become mine tomorrow.

[Scotch Bonnet]

We need a good moon tide to flush the Bay out.

[SeaWolf]

although it looks bad, the manhaden die off is not a big problem. it happens often in these types of coves where oxygen is normally low, especially when you are talking about as many peanuts as there are in the bay right now. the algea bloom is another story. pollution is a big problem in the upper bay. but, as the summer goes on, the manhaden will filter feed on the algea and slowly bring the oxygen levels reasonable. the manhaden serve a very valuable purpose to our waters. this should be an eye opener to many as how valuable this fish is to the cycle of life in our waters. so, fishing will be fine this year/fall.

[Buzz-erd]

Unfortunately John none of us can control the climate.Welcome to the 21st century.

[fishaholic18]

I was in Greenwich bay the other day and the smell was .... .... There wasn't a thing living in that bay, I even saw huge eels floating belly up on the surface. But, what freaks me out is that there were still schools of Bluefish all over the place. They must be waiting for Clamdigger!!! .....At least the Seagulls are getting well fed. I feel bad for those who have their boats slipped in Apponag cove, might as well slip it in your toilet.

[Clammer]

#$%@ the Bluefish

[likwid]

Buzzards Bay has cleaned up nicely since the oil spill

the blues were storming up the NB area hard today in the gorgeous weather

but... the blues can go back to narragansette for all i care