STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Numerous readers reached out to the Advance/SILive.com in recent weeks concerned about large numbers of dead fish washing up on Staten Island’s shores.
State officials with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said Tuesday that residents around the state have reported a similar phenomenon, and that it’s not necessarily something to be concerned about.
“DEC has received widespread reports of dead and dying Atlantic menhaden (bunker) in the Hudson River and marine waters,” a spokeswoman for the department wrote in an email.
“Die-off events of menhaden are not unusual and there are various naturally occurring causes for these events. Fish, such as bunker, that swim in large schools are particularly vulnerable to low dissolved oxygen, certain environmental pressures, and pathogens.”
Dozens of dead fish are shown along the shore in Tottenville on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020. (Courtesy: Konstantin Klokachev)
In response to the widespread reports, DEC collected samples from the East End of Long Island and Hudson River for analysis by Stony Brook University’s Marine Animal Disease Laboratory. The department expects results by the end of the week, according to the spokeswoman.
According to the New Haven Register, Connecticut residents have also reported large numbers of dead fish washing up on their shores along the Long Island Sound, and state officials there also said the mass deaths were likely due to natural causes.
“We believe this is likely due to a natural event, possibly related to cold water temperatures and abnormally high abundance of menhaden within inshore areas for this late in the fall, but we are still investigating,” Will Healey, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said.
Similar incidence of large numbers of fish washing up on Staten Island’s shores have been reported in the past, including in 2017 when the DEC offered a similar explanation.