EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – Several people have contacted our 14 News team after seeing a surprising number of dead fish in the Ohio River.
Local fisherman Cody Beard says he has seen them too. He says they are almost exclusively carp.
“They’re just floating down the river, just drifting,” Beard said. “There could be 10, 20, 30.”
He estimates that he saw between 100 and 150 dead carp during his stay on Wednesday.
Many of the fish also wash ashore, causing the Dress Plaza in Evansville to give off a strong smell of dead fish.
The Ministry of Natural Resources believes it knows why this is happening.
Craig Jansen, a biologist specializing in invasive carp, says this has happened in August in recent years.
When temperatures are high and water levels are low, there is less oxygen in the water, and for some reason, according to Jansen, this affects carp more than other species.
“It’s a big river, you know, you’re going to see dead fish, but in excessive quantities, and what I’ve noticed is that a lot of them are traveling in groups,” Beard said.
DNR officials expect we’ll likely see more groups of dead fish wash ashore over the next few weeks, at least until temperatures drop and water levels rise.
They say if more fish species start dying, it is a warning sign and indicates that the water may be polluted.
For now, it seems to be just carp and all signs point to a lack of oxygen in the water.
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