Have you heard about the latest news from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA)? Apparently, they are investigating the death of 300 catfish found in Chickamauga Lake.
According to experts, all the catfish died around the same time and did not show any obvious signs of disease or trauma.
TWRA said they have ruled out chemicals, viruses, and bacteria as possible causes of their death and that if any of these were the cause, there would be multiple ages and species of fish dead.
Although this might sound like a large number, biologists say that in the biological world, it isn’t. However, it’s still pretty alarming that so many fish died all at once without a clear explanation.
According to WKRN, Bobby Brown, the Aquatic Habitat Protection Biologist, stated that there are several clues that indicate this incident is not due to chemicals, bacteria, or viruses.
Travis Scott, the Region III Fisheries Program Manager, says that catfish are typically a hardy fish and that there are other fish more sensitive to water quality issues.
Luckily, the agency is not seeing further signs of sick or dying fish. Nevertheless, they will continue to monitor Chickamauga Lake.
Experts say it’s essential to keep an eye out for any unusual changes in the environment, such as dead fish or changes in water quality, and report them to the appropriate authorities.
Let’s hope that the TWRA can find the root cause of this issue and prevent any future incidents from happening. In the meantime, let’s all do our part in protecting the environment and keeping an eye out for any unusual changes.