If You See This in a Louisiana Lake, You Need to Call Somebody

It's not very often that agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife encourage you to interrupt your time with nature by making a phone call. But there is a potentially serious situation that is happening across Louisiana and our state's sportsmen and outdoors enthusiasts are on the front line of identifying and solving the problem.

First things first, you are not in any danger but you do need to be aware of what is happening in the state and what LDWF experts believe will become more commonplace as the summer months wear on.

What the Department of Wildlife is asking you to be cognizant of involves our state's lakes and ponds. Bodies of "flowing water" are as likely to have such an issue but it could certainly occur in a slow-moving bayou.

Your Nose May Know Before Your Eyes

Chances are if you've been around a fishing hole for more than a few minutes you are keenly aware of the stench that rotting and decaying fish produce, right? Well, that smell could be creeping into Louisiana's summertime and the Department of Wildlife would like to nip the problem in the bud. The issue at hand is fish kills.

You've probably heard over the past few decades about the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. It's where fish and aquatic animals can't live because the oxygen supply in the water has been depleted. The same scenario can happen in a lake or a pond. So, what LDWF is asking you to do is to report any fish kills you may see.

It doesn't matter whether the fish kill happens on a public waterway or in a private pond.  Private ponds may be the most likely scene of fish kills across the state this summer because of their usually low volume of water and smaller size. LDWF does not investigate fish kills in private ponds but they do keep records on them.

The good news is that a lake or pond that has suffered a fish kill usually bounces back the following year. Perhaps that's just nature doing what nature does, although we are pretty certain the hand of man plays a part in this as well.

Should you encounter a fish kill in Louisiana you may contact the Department of Wildlife by calling 1-800-442-2511. You'll want to leave your name, your number, and email address, the address of the fish kill, and any other information about the pond or species of fish.