Fogbow

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 11:51 am That's interesting. What else could get through the new passage?

Concerns center on the smalltooth sawfish, a species that is part of the ray family and known for its long, flat nose, which is accentuated by sharp teeth and looks much like a saw (hence the name). It is listed by NOAA as an endangered species, and was “the first marine fish to receive federal protection,” according to the agency. Sawfish can grow up to 16 feet in length.

The cause of the bizarre behavior and deaths remains undetermined.

“It’s a mystery,” said Adam Brame, the sawfish recovery coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, a part of NOAA. “Our partners are working around the clock to try to reach a decision on what has caused this fish health event.”

Gregg Furstenwerth, a diver and underwater photographer in the Florida Keys, has been documenting the trend, which he said he first noticed last year.

“In my lifetime of dives, I’ve never seen any behavior like this from fish at all,” Furstenwerth said.

NOAA said that it will initiate an emergency response effort next week in an attempt to save sawfish. It’s the first such effort in the country’s history, the agency said, and will also involve the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and some local partners that will help house rescued fish.

A fertilizer spill this month in southwest Iowa killed nearly all the fish in a 60-mile stretch of river with an estimated death toll of more than 750,000, according to Iowa and Missouri conservation officers.

That is the biggest fish kill in Iowa in at least a decade and the fifth-largest on record, according to state data.

And it could have been worse: Fish populations were likely smaller than normal when the spill happened because of cold water temperatures and low river flows.

“Thank goodness, in a way, it happened when it did,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ fisheries bureau. “But this is a big one. It’s a lot of river miles that have been impacted.”