BRANCH COUNTY, MI (WTVB) – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources thinks a bacterial disease is the reason behind numerous fish being killed in the Randall Lake chain of Branch County.
Brian Gunderman from the D.N.R.’s Fisheries Division says one of the reports last weekend mentioned fish with sores, whereas the other reports did not list any external symptoms.
By the time of a biologist investigation, the fish had been dead too long to facilitate laboratory analysis.
Gunderman went on to say summer water temperatures, bacteria and fungi rapidly colonize fish after they die, which interferes with laboratory identification of the causative agent.
“The external symptoms are consistent with a common bacterial disease known as columnaris. We see several columnaris outbreaks in our unit every spring and summer. The bacteria that cause columnaris are widespread in Michigan. Outbreaks tend to occur when the fish are stressed and their immune systems are depressed.”
Gunderman added a recent herbicide treatment did not directly cause the fish kill and that there is no treatment for columnaris in a wild setting.
The disease does not pose a threat to humans. The main species affected by this fish kill appear to be bluegill, largemouth bass, yellow perch, and northern pike and Gunderman says they typically are able to rebound rapidly on their own through natural reproduction.
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