Salt berm deadly for catfish
Water samples were taken to determine whether there were micro-organisms such as E.coli that might have killed the fish.
OUR newly built ‘retention berm’ in the Mzimkhulu River might be saving us from drinking salt, but it seems to have sounded the death knell for… catfish!
Seath Chapman, a well known fisherman who uses the river as his favourite casting ground, came across a number of dead, bloated and rotting barbel recently.
“These fish are very hardy and will usually be the last to succumb during adverse circumstances,” he said.
Even more mysterious, no other species of dead fish were found.
Ugu District Municipality spokesman France Zama said a team working near the berm had also seen the fish.
“Water samples were taken to determine whether there were micro-organisms such as E.coli that might have killed the fish,” he said.
“Nothing showed up in the tests. The general explanation from the environmental experts is that these fish might have migrated downstream of the berm and were not able to return to their natural habitat. As such, they could not adapt to the ‘new’ environment.”
More recent inspections did not find any more dead fish.
