Unbelievable- fish kill

[Lee Borgersen]

            ..... Unbelievable- fish kill in MI










BEULAH, Mich. -

The Department of Natural Resources says vandalism may be to blame for the
deaths of 5,700 coho salmon in a Michigan fish hatchery.
The DNR says workers at the Platte River State Fish Hatchery in Beulah found the
salmon dead on Oct. 5 in one of the maturation ponds at the Upper Weir.

All signs indicate the loss was from a late night vandalism act, as it appears
the fish were forcibly crowded into a small area which blocked water flow
through the screens and created conditions in which the dissolved oxygen
concentrations became lethal.
"This is the first time in 45 years where we have had this type of incident at
this facility," said Gary Whelan, DNR fish production manager.
"It could have put our entire coho salmon program in serious jeopardy.
The loss of this program would cost the state economy millions of dollars in
revenue.

 We were exceptionally fortunate to have an above average coho salmon spawning
run this year and will still have enough adults to fully meet our coho salmon
egg take needs."
All of the dead coho salmon, which included 5,130 adult and 570 small jacks
(yearlings), were salvaged by the American-Canadian Fisheries Inc., the
contractor for the surplus salmon carcasses from DNR salmon weirs that are used
in the fish meal industry.
Additional security measures have been put in place to protect the remaining
fish at this key egg take facility.
"We would appreciate any information on this incident to assist us with our
investigation.