A community in Pasco County is dealing with dead fish and a nasty smell. Homeowners on Black Lake want to know why.
It’s a sad sight to see: Bass, catfish, shell crackers and brim, dead and rotting along the banks of this popular lake.
Steve Barrow has fished here for 17 years.
“There were hundreds of fish floating in the lake. Basically the entire surface was covered with floating fish,” he said.
Barrow suspects there could be a correlation between these carcasses and recent work by the county.
“The only thing I could connect it with was some flushing of our storm water system that Pasco County had been doing for several days.”
After he called the county for answers, he says he was directed to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The agency put an investigator on the issue and in a statement to News Channel 8 said, “Samples were collected and showed algae-like organisms consistent with a naturally occurring algae event. The samples are being sent to our lab in Tallahassee and we will know more once we receive those results.”
While Barrow is sad to see his favorite fishing hole suffer, he says he’s extra thankful for all the heron, egrets and even bald eagles flying in to feast.
“Those fish would still be out there if it weren’t for the birds and that would be a terrible situation,” he said.
It could be years before Black Lake returns to normal and regains a full variety of freshwater fish.
