Sharing Rocks!

Sharing Rocks!

The Perfect Storm??

Most likely..........

On March 1st, I had gone to the nature center with the intentions of activating the bubbler system with the intentions of pumping oxygen into the pond. I was concerned about the ice cover still present on the pond at that time. However, I did an inspection of the banks of the pond, and sadly near the corner by the driveway and the roadside, hundreds of fish were discovered dead. The ice layer near that bank was the thinnest, but had not thawed in time to introduce air to the water surface. The fish varied in size and type. Most obvious was the amount of sunfish and bluegills. After further inspection, large-mouth bass were found along with catfish. I notified the rest of the Board of Trustees immediately when I returned home. Mary Mayer, Joel Rudin and some volunteers responded quickly to start removing the fish. A couple hundred fish were removed in the first round that early evening. The fish removal continued for several more days, and we were staggered by the numbers of fish, and the sizes of some we were finding. The fish even tried to find their way into the swamp on the other side of the driveway. Many, many fish were stuck inside the drainage pipe near the driveway entrance. We flushed out that pipe, and still hundreds just kept appearing...deceased. By the middle of the week, almost 600 were found by then.

At this stage, President Mary Mayer contacted the Bergen County Environmental Projection Program. We had a on-site visit from a few staff members. One thing they mentioned was that a few other pond/nature centers in northern Bergen suffered the same loss. We don't however know where the other places were. They confirmed our original assessment which was severe oxygen deprivation due to the solid ice cover and snow pack on the ice. (I will provide a link later in this message that explains a major winter fish kill in detail). Mary had mentioned to the board: "Although we are considering ways to have the water tested, the County team felt it wasn't necessary (but may still be of interest to us)." As was mentioned by the County team and further research on this situation ---- die back due to oxygen depravation brought on by a combination of ALL the major causes of the smaller winter kills we have experienced in the past. The usual conditions of shallow pond with high plant mass and very large fish population was pushed beyond the tipping point by the extended months of uninterrupted ice coverage edge to edge (which prevents oxygen exchange with the air) AND the prolonged snow cover on the ice, preventing sunlight from stimulating photosynthesis and releasing oxygen.

Borough officials including the Environmental Commission and the DPW have been kept up to date through out this entire ordeal. The DPW was kind enough to assist with removal of the fish off-site. We continued to remove fish from the water this past weekend and today. Today, myself and another volunteer were able to get a canoe out to remove floaters from the middle area of the pond in addition to some that were in unreachable areas. It appears we have gotten the bulk of the kill. There remains some isolated fish in several spots, which likely stay for turtle food. (The snapping turtle is already active, and a couple sliders have been seen already).

Sadly, we estimate we have lost approx. 1700 fish total thus far. We have lost our largest fish, which included a 5.8lb bass, a catfish in similar weight and was the longest on record: 24 inches long. A 10.25lb native carp was also removed. We have not spotted some of the other carp we have in the pond, including the sterile triploid grass carp, but it's assumed we are at a devastating 95% loss of fish. Some of these larger species have been in this pond for years, including the large white carp that many of you knew of, named - The General, which hits most of us on personal levels.

We have not experienced a fish kill this catastrophic in a very long time. One- our fish population has grown over the years. Two- with mild winters over the decade, we have not had a sold ice cover with a heavy snowpack from mid December thru March in years.

I bring this incident to the attention of our members and friends in more detail since an article was published today in the Northern Valley Press. Steve Kelman, a former board member and NV Press editorial correspondent, took a genuine interest in this catastrophic event and asked if he could interview myself, which I agreed upon Since some folks may want to know more about this phenomenon, I figured now would be the time to present this message. As mentioned in the article, pond dynamics is a major factor in this ordeal. All the right conditions were present at the perfect time to cause this devastation. We will have to learn from this event and focus on how to prevent something like this in the future. Our usual fish stocking takes place in the end of April for the fishing contest, thanks to the recreation and Police departments. However, we may seek additional stocking from the NJDEP based on emergency measures.

Sorry for this lengthy message, but I want to keep everyone updated as best as possible. A large thank you goes out to our volunteers and the Closter DPW for assisting us. If anything further develops in this situation, I will notify all of you as soon as possible. Here is the link with great information: http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0008.html

Respectfully,

~Anthony Corvelli~ Secretary / Land Use Committee

www.closternaturecenter.org