Thousands of fish die in Oyster Creek discharge canal

LACEY – More than 5,000 menhaden, or bunker fish, have died in the past week in a discharge canal of the Oyster Creek Generating Station.

Perhaps drawn into the discharge canal's warm waters or scared there by a predator, hundreds of thousands of the fish are crowded into the canal, said Larry Ragonese, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"They seem to like it there at the moment," he said. "We don't really have a way to get them out at the moment."

Temperature of the canal's water — which is used in plant operations and then discharged — is likely in the high 40-degree range, while water downstream is likely in the mid-30s, Ragonese said.

Ragonese and Suzanne D'Ambrosio, spokeswoman for the power plant, said plant operations were normal and that the fish kill was not related to any power-generating activities.

"We would like them to leave, but they're not cooperating with us," Ragonese said. "We don't have a way to make them leave."

Menhaden are commonly used as bait fish, and are used for fish oil supplements, animal feed and fertilizer.

Ragonese said DEP also notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the fish kill.

"What you've got is a strange diversion of fish into an area they wouldn't normally go into," he said. "We're just trying to figure out how to deal with it."

The event is a seasonal anomaly, he said.

Ragonese added: "If we try to pull them out of the water we'll kill them. If we push them into the cold (of Barnegat Bay), we'll kill them. And if they continue to stay there, they're going to gradually continue to die. So there's not a lot we can do."

Oyster Creek staff are disposing of the fish, Ragonese said.

"Exelon Generation (which operates Oyster Creek Generation Station) is working closely with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and an independent fish pathologist to better understand what caused the death of more than 5,000 Atlantic Menhaden in Oyster Creek's discharge canal," D'Ambrosio said in a statement. "Early results of a fish study underway confirm that large numbers of Atlantic Menhaden... are becoming stressed and dying as predatory fish drive them into colder waters."

Last May, between 500,00 to 600,000 dead menhaden, or about 306 tons of fish, washed ashore in the Shark River after the large school depleted oxygen supplies in the water.

Last summer, the DEP also investigated a large-scale fish kill of menhaden in the Delaware River.

Amanda Oglesby: 732-557-5701; aoglesby@app.com