Something's fishy in Lake Simcoe

Something's fishy in Lake Simcoe
Posted By Garth Mawhinney



To quote Alice's phrase in the Wonderland novel the Carp situation in the lake is getting "Curioser and Curioser"...

Several things have crossed my mind but my main suspicion is that the blame lies with either a local or provincial government adding something to the lake to "clean it up" and no consideration was given to the fact that it could kill the bottom feeding carp.

Here's how I got there.

We know that there is a move afoot to clean up the lake... that is a good thing.

The problem is that I think there is a cover-up going on and they don't want to take the blame .

Just imagine the government outcry if the carp died because of weed killing chemicals from residents' lawns... they'd go nuts.

But there is no outcry. There is no quaranting of beaches because of the dead fish.. They should close them up if they don't know exactly what has happened to the fish so that we can be assured that taking in a mouthful of deteriorated carp infested water can do no harm to humans.

They're not doing it are they?

That is because they know exactly what happened and are afraid to admit that they put something into the water that killed the fish.

The following is copied from a study done at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Stages of Carp Development

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Longevity


* A long lived and rapid growing fish

* May reach up to an age of 20 years or more

* In North America the largest reported carp was 60 pounds


Mortality Factors


* Carnivorous fish such as pike

* Fish-eating birds, which selectively prey on carp up to one year old


Predation


* The agility and rapid growth of the young carp allow them to reduce the amount of predation

* Young carp may hide in aquatic vegetation, again reducing predation

* Carp have strong spines which make them unsuitable for many predators



Why Are They So Successful?


* Carp have the ability to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions such as:

o Salinity of up to 14% in marshes

o High temperatures

o High levels of water contamination

o Low oxygen levels

* They can tolerate waters with dissolved oxygen as low as 1mg/L O2


I've lived in Gilford for 20 years and this is the first time I've seen this magnitude of dead carp. Coincidence, I think not.

Cover-up for a municipality/provincial government screwup.. I'd believe the latter.

I'd like to be a "fly on the wall" in the chambers of whoever is responsible.

So far I haven't seen them spending taxpayers' money to clean up the mess.. except of course for the curb side bag pick up.

The whole matter "smells fishy" in more ways than one...

If I'm wrong then I'd like the powers that be to prove it..


Just another unsatisfied taxpayer....