Grenadier Pond fish dying.

[usernamehere]

Ok, I have an update on this.

Spoke with a conservation officer today and heres what iv been told:

i was walking around in high park today (the stench was unbelievable, i guess the dead fish have been there for at least a couple days). There are signs stating that some of the "dog strangling vines" were sprayed with a herbicide called glyphosate. A quick google search reveals glyphosate is toxic ("cide" things tend to be). It's more than likely that this stuff leached into the water when it rained. These signs appeared sometime in the last 2 weeks, i wonder if there is a correlation between when they sprayed and when dead fish started to appear. Theres a phone # on the signs, i think i'll give them a call when i get a chance. Fish dying - can't be good.

I asked him about this and he said its definitely NOT due to pesticide. All pesticide used around ponds are safe for fish, and do not cause this sort of thing. They have thought of run-off due to rain, and it wont harm the fish.

he said the ministry is still trying to figure out the exact reason, but they currently suspect 2 things:

1) algea boom. (less likely)
2) sudden cooling of the water due to abnormal weather. (more likely)

I was told that its highly likely that the sudden cold weather week we had a while ago had affected the fish.

He said that when the cause is clear, they will announce it. You may be able to find it being announced here. If not, then maybe on the news. He said there are no official website you can find the info on. If its anything poisonous, it will definitely be announced via the news, but other than that, you have to rely on insider info.

He told me that by this week, they have already estimated over 1000 dead fish there, and fishing(and the fish, and the ducks, and the turtles, etc) will be heavily affected.

I asked about restocking the pond, and he said that its highly unlikely. The fishing may be temporarily banned if they assess that the pond may not be able to recover under fishing pressure.

Thats all I have for now. Will update more when I get the news.

 

[fisher12]

That's sad, this urban pond is where many people or families who can't leave the city or don't want to travel far go to fish, it would be good if the MNR restocked it. I know you said that the officer said restocking is highly unlikely but if they don't do that, I doubt fishing can resume within a long time period, maybe even for a couple years before the sunfish population starts thriving again and the bass/pike populations will definitely suffer for a long time. Anyone know realistically how long it take for a pond of this size to recover to its full potential?

 

[usernamehere]

That's sad, this urban pond is where many people or families who can't leave the city or don't want to travel far go to fish, it would be good if the MNR restocked it. I know you said that the officer said restocking is highly unlikely but if they don't do that, I doubt fishing can resume within a long time period, maybe even for a couple years before the sunfish population starts thriving again and the bass/pike populations will definitely suffer for a long time. Anyone know realistically how long it take for a pond of this size to recover to its full potential?

After thousands of sunfish dies, and seeing how people still catch and keep puny sunfish under 4" by the bucket loads? Probably never. Not with the current fishing pressure.

 

[Colin]

This is terrible news. I have seen several dead redwing blackbirds around the area as well in the past week. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[usernamehere]

This is terrible news. I have seen several dead redwing blackbirds around the area as well in the past week. Has anyone else noticed this?

No I havnt, but Im planning on taking a trip down to high park again this week. I honestly havnt seen any dead bird in High Park yet.

 

[CatchandreleaseKyle]

They suspect that it may be related the the lake producing to much Algae and it spreading a virus or not producing enough Oxygen.

 

[CatchandreleaseKyle]

http://torontoist.com/2013/08/a-fish-die-off-in-high-parks-grenadier-pond-perplexes-officials/