Mass fish die-off alarms residents of Petropavlovsk
According to the TV channel, the dead fish were discovered by visitors who had come for a walk in the Severnaya Zvezda park, located on the shore of Lake Pyostroe. The dead fish were frozen into the ice, and in some places entire clusters had washed up along the edge of the lake.
Local residents are concerned by what happened, since Pyostroe is a popular recreation spot. People are worried about the cleanliness of the lake water. They are also troubled by the fact that a busy highway is nearby and that construction of a new triathlon park is underway on the shore, the report says.
Specialists have promised to investigate the situation. A working group has gone to the site, and the necessary samples have been taken. It is possible that the fish died simply because they are not adapted to live in such an environment, the report notes. The dead species had never previously inhabited Lake Pyostroe. They began to appear there after record flooding two years ago. At that time, the lake became connected to the Ishim River through floodwaters, and river fish species ended up in the lake.
“The fish species are pike and roach; these species did not inhabit the lake before. Presumably, the die-off occurred in certain areas where the ice froze all the way to the bottom. Another possible reason is a lack of oxygen. These fish species require deeper bodies of water and a higher oxygen regime,” said Ildar Kakimov, head of the Ishim Interregional Basin Fishery Inspection Department.
It is worth recalling that earlier a mass fish die-off also occurred in Lake Saryaidyn in the Zhangala District of West Kazakhstan Region. Specialists named a preliminary cause of the deaths; details can be found in the article.