The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off and (in Britain) as fish mortality, is a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalised mortality of aquatic life. The most common cause is reduced oxygen in the water, which in turn may be due to factors such as drought, algae bloom, overpopulation, or a sustained increase in water temperature. Infectious diseases and parasites can also lead to fish kill. Toxicity is a real but far less common cause of fish kill.
Fish kills are often the first visible signs of
environmental stress and are usually investigated as a matter of urgency by environmental agencies to determine the cause of the kill. Many fish species have a relatively low tolerance of variations in environmental conditions and their death is often a potent indicator of problems in their environment that may be affecting other animals and plants and may have a direct impact on other uses of the water such as for drinking water production. Pollution events may affect fish species and fish age classes in different ways. If it is a cold-related fish kill, juvenile fish and/or species that are not cold-tolerant may be selectively affected. If toxicity is the cause, species are more generally affected and the event may include amphibians and shellfish as well. A reduction in dissolved oxygen may affect larger specimens more than smaller fish as these may be able to access oxygen richer water at the surface, at least for a short time.
CausesFish kills may result from a variety of causes, most frequently ecological hypoxia (oxygen depletion). The hypoxic event may be brought on by factors such as algae blooms, droughts, high temperatures and thermal pollution. Fish kills may also occur due to the presence of disease, agricultural and sewage runoff, oil or hazardous waste spills, sea-quakes, inappropriate re-stocking of fish, poaching with chemicals, underwater explosions, and other catastrophic events that upset a normally stable aquatic population.
