Fish kill in John H Kerr Reservoir
June 4, 2010; Mike Shaver, DEQ Blue Ridge Regional Office – Lynchburg
 Hundreds of dead carp were found in the upper reaches of the John H. Kerr Reservoir in Clarksville. DEQ and DGIF continue to monitor the kill. (Photo/DEQ)
|
On May 19, 2010, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Blue Ridge Regional Office in Lynchburg was notified of a fish kill involving carp in the John H. Kerr Reservoir in Clarksville. An Army Corps of Engineers biologist at the reservoir alerted DEQ. Site visits by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and DEQ in the following days showed the fish kill was confined to the upper portion of the reservoir, included only carp, and was continuing at a slow pace. Estimates put the amount of dead carp in the hundreds. A similar kill was documented in Smith Mountain Lake in 2009, with no known cause.
Tissue samples from live and dying fish were sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lamar Fish Health Center in Pennsylvania. Initial tests were negative for several viral pathogens. Further viral analyses are under way.
Reports and sightings of newly dead fish are diminishing. DEQ and DGIF are continuing to monitor the kill. Carp are still the only fish affected.