Fish in Maryland

Drought Behind Huge Maryland Fish Kill
Associated Press, July 3, 1999

Some 200,000 fish in two Chesapeake Bay tributaries have died in the past week, one of the state's worst fish kills in years and one authorities are blaming on a regional drought. The deaths in shallow creeks and coves of the Patapsco and Magothy rivers are due to low oxygen levels in the water, state officials said. Such widespread oxygen depletion has not been seen in more than a decade, said Charles Poukish, an environmental specialist with the state Department of the Environment. The deaths affected all fish species living in the affected areas, including menhaden, silversides, perch, mummichogs, pickerel, catfish and sunfish. Most were young, between 2 or 3 inches long. Officials have ruled out the influence of Pfiesteria piscicida, a toxic microbe blamed for wiping out huge numbers of fish in the Chesapeake Bay.