500 dead fish in lake: Is this the cause?
An experienced angler claims to have solved the mystery surrounding the death of more than 500 fish at a Northampton lake.
Hundreds of dead fish have been floating to the surface of Abington Park lake over the past two weeks, but an Environment Agency investigation has so far failed to determine the cause.
Suggested reasons have included pollutants in the water or a lack of oxygen caused either by the hot weather stimulating pondweed growth or by decomposing bread fed to the ducks.
But according to Northampton mum Shirley Holmes, an angler of 16 years, the fish are in fact dying from a deadly contagious disease known as fin rot.
"I have been down to the lake and picked up several fish from the water, and none of them have had fins," said the 40-year-old, of Wellingborough Road, Abington.
"From the evidence I've seen, I'm 100 per cent certain, it is fin rot. It has been an ongoing problem at the lake for a couple of years but I've never seen it as bad as this."
Abington Park lake is stocked with a variety of common fish including bream, carp, perch, roach and tench, of which there are believed to be several thousand in total.
Unusually high numbers have been found dead in the past two weeks and firefighters were even called to the park on Saturday to help with the problem, using a fire engine hose to recycle the water which was thought at the time to be low on oxygen.
Environment Agency tests have since proved there is no oxygen shortage in the water, and spokesman said it was unlikely to be polluted.
But Miss Holmes warned many more fish could die if the fin rot problem was not dealt with soon.
She said: "If it is left unattended it could spread to the whole lake, which would be a terrible shame."
Rita Penman, of the Environment Agency, said the lake would be closely monitored over the coming weeks for further signs of the disease, which is caused by bacterial infection.
"When the weather gets warmer as it has done in the past couple of weeks, there is an increase in bacteria, which can result in fin rot," she said.
"We would advise anglers to remove dead fish from the water as much as they can to minimise the risk of it spreading."
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Man dies following motorway smash on Northamptonshire border
- BREAKING NEWS: Police inundated with hundreds of complaints over snowball fights
- Huge cigarette haul by masked burglars in armed raids at Northampton stores
- BREAKING NEWS: Police name man killed in crash on motorway in Northamptonshire
- Student flats planned for Northampton town centre revealed
- BREAKING NEWS: Fishmarket art gallery offered new home
- Student flats planned for Northampton town centre revealed
- New manager of Northampton’s Grosvenor Centre says ‘This is the beginning of a new era’
- Neighbours raise concern about bid to build new house three inches from their home
- Four-storey replacement for Fishmarket gallery should open in September
- Exclusive: Saints voluntarily move key Heineken Cup match to Milton Keynes
- Sooty may be left with bullet in neck following senseless attack
- Ashton determined to end Saints career on a high
- Sons honoured for care of their father
- West Northamptonshire Development Corporation in bid to purchase site of former power station
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: South west
