A die-off of Carp in Lake Winnipeg needs investigation

Wednesday August 29, in the evening I was in the Riverton area looking into concerns about a die-off of Carp.

As we walked along the shore of Lake Winnipeg, we found many dead carp. Halli Jonasson, who was with us, estimated the carp had died 3 days to 2 weeks before. He and others had seen these dead carp earlier and reported them to me. Since carp are a very hardy fish, and very tolerant of low oxygen levels, it is quite possible that the cause of the die-off was algal toxins rather than low oxygen. With concerns about algal blooms on Lake Winnipeg and their adverse effects, it becomes important to have a full investigation of what has caused this. If this is a warning sign of more problems to come with increased algal blooms we need to be paying attention.

Although it is now widely recognized that algal bloom have increased in a major way on Lake Winnipeg in the last decade, so far very little effective action has been taken to reduce the phosphorous entering the lake. The major reason for increased algal blooms in Lake Winnipeg is the increased phosphorous in the lake.