An investigation by Utah state officials is currently underway after several hundred dead fish were found floating in a pond in Salt Lake County on June 24.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) confirmed to NTD in a statement that officials were called to investigate the incident, which happened at Cove Pond.
“Our biologists responded to the scene and confirmed that there are an estimated 500 dead fish in the pond, but the number may be higher,” said Faith Heaton Jolley, public information officer at the DWR.
“The majority of the fish that died are catfish, but there are also a few bluegills and green sunfish that died, as well.”
According to biologists from the Division of Wildlife Resources, the low levels of dissolved oxygen found in the pond could be a likely contributor to the deaths of the fish.
Upon conducting tests on the pond water, oxygen levels were found to be “lethally low,” the statement said, with a more in-depth investigation currently being conducted.
“Circumstances that contributed to low dissolved oxygen levels and possible other factors are still being investigated by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the local authorities,” the DWR said.
The pond remains closed to fishing pending further notice by the department.
The DWR went on to say that the division typically stocks the pond with trout and catfish but will refrain from doing so until the cause of the deaths of the fish has been confirmed through the investigation.
In addition, the department has issued a warning to anglers to not consume any fish caught in Cove Pond.
“We recommend that anglers do not eat any fish they may have harvested from the pond on June 24 out of an abundance of caution,” Ms. Jolley said.
“We stock Cove Pond with both catfish and trout. It may be some time before the pond is restocked, so we encourage anglers to fish other waterbodies until further notice,” she said.
