Department of Environment investigates fish kill at the Darkwood Pond

The Department of Environment (DOE) says it is investigating a report of a fish kill at the Darkwood pond located on the southwestern coast of Antigua.

Residents in the area reported seeing thousands of dead fish floating in the pond. On that day, the Chief Environment Officer provided some comments to the media and informed them that the DOE would investigate.

The DOE dispatched a team to the location on Tuesday and did some preliminary investigations. A drone was deployed to get an aerial view of the extent of the pond and captured some still images. Observations at the site that day showed minimal numbers of dead fish, supposedly the bulk having been consumed by the many birds seen in the vicinity. The DOE also contacted the Department of Analytical Services (DAS) who agreed to conduct water quality sampling within the pond.

On Wednesday 12 June 2019, the DOE and DAS team once again visited the location and retrieved samples from five sites within the pond. DAS will be testing chemical parameters to include nitrates, phosphates, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, amongst others. It is suspected that the recent heavy rainfalls increased the nutrient content within the pond having drained from the adjacent lands.

The increased nutrients in the pond provoked an algae bloom which consumed most of the oxygen resulting in the fish kill. However, this cannot be definitively confirmed until the results of the water quality testing are available. A report is being prepared to present the findings of the DOE and should be available by Friday 14 June 2019 and will be made available to the public on request.

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