State Scientists Probe Mass Catfish Die-Off in Waters Near Fairhope
State marine biologists are investigating hundreds of hardhead catfish that have washed ashore near Fairhope's Weeks Bay, with officials warning residents not to eat diseased fish while they search for a cause.
State marine scientists are investigating a mass die-off of catfish along the Baldwin County coastline, after hundreds of the fish washed ashore in the Weeks Bay area south of Fairhope over the past two weeks.
Vernon Minton, director of the Alabama Marine Resources Division in Gulf Shores, said his office has fielded a growing number of reports from residents and anglers who have found dead and dying hardhead catfish along local shorelines. Many of the fish have visible lesions or scars, prompting state officials to caution the public against eating any catfish showing signs of disease.
Minton is urging anyone who finds diseased catfish to bring the fish to the Marine Resources Division office for testing rather than disposing of them, so biologists can examine the animals and try to pin down the cause of the outbreak. Samples collected from the die-off are expected to undergo laboratory analysis in the coming weeks.
Hardhead catfish are a common, hardy species in the shallow bays, bayous and river mouths along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, and sudden die-offs among the species are not unheard of. Minton said he suspects the current outbreak may be linked to the same pathogen that caused a similar, much larger fish kill along the Alabama coast in the mid-1990s, when thousands of catfish died in a comparable event.
About Weeks Bay
Weeks Bay is a small, shallow bay on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, fed mainly by the Fish and Magnolia rivers. It was designated a National Estuarine Research Reserve in 1986 and is managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as part of NOAA’s national reserve system.
