Virus kills fish in Carter Lake

Five thousand dead fish were discovered at Carter Lake Thursday, but the Department of Natural Resources isn’t too worried. D-N-R fisheries technician Lewis Bruce says the kill of yellow bass wasn’t due to a manure spill or some other contamination — it was a natural phenomenon. He says it was a type of virus that happens with certain populations of fish. He says it has happened in Clear Lake and Lake Icaria. Bruce says the fishkill helps balance a population that’s out of control.He says as with any population, if you have too many, a virus can hit the population and knock it back to where it should be. Bruce says people who use the lake may notice the problem for about a week. He says the dead fish will wash up onto the shore and degrade. He says raccoons and birds will feed on them, but after about a week, they’ll all be gone. Bruce says there’s no concern the virus will spread beyond the yellow bass population.