Published Saturday, August 3, 2013 11:31AM EDT
City cleanup crews were working Saturday to remove hundreds of dead fish found floating in a pond in Toronto’s High Park after what is being described by conservation officials as a die-off.
Residents who frequent the popular park began to notice the dead fish along the shore of Grenadier Pond last week.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources the die-off happened on July 28. Ninety-five per cent of the dead fish are sunfish.
Photos
Dead sunfish float on the surface of Grenadier Pond in High Park, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013.
City employees and volunteers cleaned up Grenadier Pond in High Park on Saturday, Aug., 3, 2013, after hundreds of dead fish floated to the surface. (Jackie Crandles / CP24)
Lenka Holubec, a member of a volunteer-led park committee, told CP24 she first noticed a few dead fish on Monday. By Tuesday, the numbers of dead fish along the shoreline had increased, she said, and the resulting stench was overwhelming. Holubec added she’s never seen such a large die-off at Grenadier Pond.
“Some small die-offs have occurred but nothing to this kind of magnitude.”
Officials from Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment are trying to determine what caused the die-off, and have collected fish and water samples for testing. Investigators will look at water quality and weather as possible contributing factors.
via Hundreds of dead fish found floating in High Park | CTV Toronto News.
Prior to Ontario’s PESTICIDE BAN, this fish kill would have been FALSELY AND ARBITRARILY BLAMED on pest control products. Now that Ontario has ARBITRARILY BANNED these products, there is NO LONGER AN ILLEGITIMATE SCAPEGOAT. In fact, pest control products used in the Urban Landscape DO NOT enter our lakes and rivers through surface run-off and storm sewers. PROHIBITION will NOT somehow lead to lower concentrations of contaminants in our stream water. It is WRONG TO ALLEGE that any PROVINCE-WIDE PROHIBITION would be helpful environmentally, when, in fact, pest control products used in the Urban Landscape DO NOT enter our lakes and rivers through surface run-off and storm sewers. This allegation is FALSE, MISLEADING, and CONTRADICTS over twenty-five years of research. http://wp.me/P1jq40-27X It must be noted that there are REAL TRENDS AGAINST PROHIBITION across North America, with dozens of jurisdictions that are STOPPING or RESCINDING or LIMITING Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION, or GRANTING Professional Lawn Care businesses with an EXCEPTION STATUS. http://wp.me/P1jq40-1JO http://wp.me/p1jq40-6h1 Perhaps those concerned with the welfare of our community should prioritize their energies to the PRIMARY CAUSES OF HEALTH ISSUES, such as LIFE-STYLE CHOICES like cigarettes and nutrition and exercise, perhaps LIVES WOULD BE SAVED. WILLIAM H. GATHERCOLE AND NORAH G https://pesticidetruths.com/ http://wp.me/P1jq40-2rr