The time is approaching for a ‘typical’ fish kill period, based on the water temperature and time of year when previous fish kills have occurred.  Volunteers are needed over the next 3 weeks to help find and count dead fish in the Shenandoah River, and to identify fish species and document any injuries.

The types of injuries that might be found are in the slideshow below, or you can click here to view larger versions of the pictures with captions.

BubbleShare: Share photos.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Kelbe - Shenandoah Riverkeeper

If you are out on the river and you see any sick or dead fish, please note your location and contact Jeff Kelbe, the Shenandoah Riverkeeper, at (540) 837-1479 and Don Kain, Fish Kill Task Force Co-Chair, at (540) 574-7815. 

Water and Fish samples are being taken from the North and South Forks of the Shenandoah River, as well as the James River, but additional volunteers are needed to complete the surveys. Ted Turner of the Valley Regional DEQ office, says:

“What we are looking for this season are volunteers who would be willing to go out on the rivers after fish kills are reported, to look for dead and dying fish and estimate the extent of the kill. We’d also like some volunteers to go out before and after storms and look for dead and dying fish. From our observations in the past 4 years, this isn’t as easy as it seems. We’d like to get our volunteers together, and do some training for investigating the kills, such as how and where to find the fish, identifying species if possible, marking locations w/ GPS, and collecting water quality measurements (temp, pH, D.O., etc.) where possible.” To read more from Ted Turner, and to read Jeff Kelbe’s commentary on the river’s health throughout the season, visit the Shenandoah Riverkeeper’s Blog.

If you are interested in volunteering to monitor the fish kills this year, please click the “Read More” link below for additional information. 

[Read more →]

The two articles  from ‘Chemical & Engineering News’ below discuss the dangers of our pharmaceuticals on the environment due to ingested and unused medications ending up in our wastewater.

Article 1:
Side Effects by Bethany Halford

Printable PDF Version

Excerpt:
“No one ever planned for fish to take birth control pills. But they are. As treated wastewater flows into rivers and streams every day, fish all over the world get a tiny dose of 17α-ethinylestradiol, a synthetic steroidal estrogen that’s used in birth control pills. They also get a little sip of the anticonvulsant carbamazepine, a nip of the antidepressant fluoxetine, and a taste of hundreds of other drugs that we take to make our lives better.”

Article 2:
What To Do With Your Unused Pharmaceuticals by Bethany Halford

Printable PDF Version

Excerpt:
“Open up any medicine cabinet and you’ll probably see shelves crammed with expired and unused medications. The average American received more than 11 prescriptions in 2006, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, adding up to 3.3 billion prescriptions total. And that doesn’t even take into consideration all the nonprescription drugs we’ve got stockpiled in our cupboards.
No one knows just how many of those unwanted meds get flushed away each year, only to reemerge as trace contaminants in the environment. To get a handle on just how many unused pharmaceuticals go down the drain, scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency surveyed the drug inventory maintained by the Clark County coroner’s office in Las Vegas.”

Originally posted 1/28/07: 

An article was recently written in the Daily News Record’s Rocktown Weekly newspaper about the Fish Kill and possible causes. Read the full text of the article at this link:

http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=14341&CHID=1

CORRECTION [Posted 1/31/08]:

“A recent article ran in the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record about the status of the fish kill investigation.  The story said we had adequate funding for spring 2008, but that future funding was a problem.  The statement was attributed to me.  I called the reporter (Hannah Northey) and clarified that we do NOT have adequate funding for our spring 2008 investigations.  I told her that we have sufficient funds to cover DEQ’s proposed water quality monitoring, but that our funds are not nearly sufficient to carry out the comprehensive investigations that are needed for 2008.” -Don Kain

The file below, sent by Don Kain, contains information about the investigative needs and required funds.

Fish Kill Investigation Funds [Word Doc]

Update: Here is another related Rocktown Weekly Article from 2/1

http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=14739&CHID=2

“Welcome to the Living South River” by Sandy Greene and Jason Hallacher
Description: In this YouTube video, Jason discusses the health of the South River in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.   Streamside vegetation buffers can help improve the health of the river.   Visit the Living River display at Grand Caverns Park in Grottoes, VA.

Draft Recommended Projects and Funding Needs for 2008-2009:

“No single research or monitoring plan will address fully the RAC’s working hypotheses or identify the causative agent(s) of the Shenandoah and upper James River fish mortalities. However, comprehensive and systematic surveillance of diagnostic, histopathological indicators, disease prevalence and etiology, and sources and fates of putative ecotoxicants is a constructive framework for research programs in 2008 and beyond.  [Read more →]

Learn where the Shenandoah Valley candidates for the General Assembly stand on issues of concern to their constituents regarding water. Click here to learn about the Candidates’ Public Forum.

Click here to view pictures from the Candidates’ Public Forum.

“What specific actions will you take in the General Assembly to address the downward trend in the health of this important river and advance public-private efforts to determine the cause(s) of the fish kills?” Click here to read the candidates’ answers to water issue questions.

“A disturbing trend has continued in 2007–spring fish kills in the Forks of the Shenandoah River occurred for the 4th straight year. Perhaps even more disturbing is that similar fish kills showed up in the upper James River system this spring…” ( Click here to download the newsletter article (PDF))

We hope you enjoy the new design of our Pure Water Forum Fish Kill Portal website! Please send feedback or report any errors to Renee at vp@neosentials.com

This is the home page, where updates will be posted. Please also check out our other pages:

FAQ 

Partners 

Note: This site is still under construction and may change slightly.

Washington Post Staff Writer, David A. Fahrenthold, writes Wednesday, June 20, 2007; Page B1:

Something in the Shenandoah River is turning the smallmouth bass thin and listless and causing sunfish to break out in blisters that look like cigarette burns. Something in the water is making both species weaken and die, leaving the river bottom flecked with white bellies.

Something is doing all this. After five years of tests, more than $600,000 in government money and uncounted numbers of dead fish, that’s still as much as anybody knows.

At the center of the mystery is the Shenandoah, whose easy fishing and picturesque setting have long attracted visitors from the Washington area. Here, the impact has been ecological, economic and emotional, as locals try to understand how this beloved waterway became something that kills fish. Potomac.

Check the link below to continue to read this article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061901987.html

You can join in to help solve the “fish kill mystery” by becoming a Shenandoah River volunteer water quality monitor! To find out how, visit:

Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River

or

Friends of the Shenandoah River 

Here is a map of the current sampling sites: FOSR Monitored Sites Map