Heather Wright/The Independent

Jim and Marlene MacGuire have never seen anything like it.

The Ipperwash couple were among the two dozen volunteers at the Lambton Shores beach Friday morning, cleaning up thousands of dead fish, many of them Gizzard Shad.

The dead fish started to wash up on the Ipperwash sand about two weeks ago, says Jim.

“I walk every day. The first day we went, ‘Okay, there’s hundreds of fish here’ and then the next day there’s 1000s, and then there’s 10s of 1000s,” he tells The Independent. He suspects there are hundreds of thousands of dead fish floating in Lake Huron.

The MacGuires say dead fish often wash up on the shores, but not this many. They’ve have spent some time trying to figure out what has happened.

Marlene says many of the fish found are Gizzard Shads. “The Ministry of Natural Resources, forestry and fisheries, that we talked to on the phone, they said it’s a very sensitive fish. It’s likely just natural die-off,” Marlene said.

“It was a tough winter. We’ve had some minus temperatures and then up to 25 or whatever during the day this spring.”

Thursday, officials from the Ministry of the Environment came to investigate although they didn’t say exactly what they suspected.

Jennifer Powell, a University of Toronto PhD candidate working in Lambton Shores, is also keeping a close eye on the fish die off which has been seen all along the Lake Huron Shore Line from Tobermory to Ipperwash.

Powell, who writes about her research on the Facebook page Lambton Shores Endangered Fish Adventure, suspects the die-off may be due to an outbreak of viral hemorrhagic septicemia or VHS. It’s not a danger to people or pets, but it “can be devastating to fishes and some other aquatic life,” she writes.

Powell says she’s seen evidence of multiple species of fish dying in the area. Gizzard Shad are known for large die-offs in the spring because of the changes in the weather, but she’s heard reports of other fish, such as Rainbow Trout, Largemouth Bass and Yellow Perch, being affected both in Ontario and on the US side of the lake. Scientists there say it is an outbreak of VHS.

Powell says the community members have sent samples of the fish to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative in Guelph for testing but that may take time to get the results.

“As an endangered fish researcher, I am particularly concerned that the virus might be accidentally spread to critical endangered fish habitat areas like the Old Ausable Channel in Grand Bend, and L Lake and Old Mouth Lake in Port Franks,” she said urging people not to move fish, boats or aquatic equipment from one body of water to another.

Marlene MacGuire is also worried about what all those dying fish will do to water quality. “We are told by the Ministry of the Environment… ‘if you are telling me there’s 1000s and 10s of 1000s – if they all are in the water – it has potential to increase your E coli level in the water.”

The cleanup was organized by Ipperwash residents for obvious reasons. “It’s going to get warm. It hasn’t been too smelly yet, because it hasn’t been warm. But as soon as these warm temperatures come and the people, yeah,” says Jim.

About two dozens residents spent part of Friday scouring the beach for the fish. The Centre Ipperwash Community Association and some of its members paid for garbage bags, gloves and a dumpster to complete the cleanup.

HOW TO CONTROL THE SPREAD OF VHS

While we wait for results, there are things you can do to help control its spread, according to Powell.

1. Do not move fishes, including bait fish, between water bodies.

2. If you do move boats or aquatic equipment from one water body to another:

• Drain all water from the boat and bilges, prior to leaving the shore of the water body.
• Clean boats and equipment (particularly boots) of all mud, plants, and other debris as these can hold the virus.
• Disinfect all surfaces and gear that has come into contact with lake water or fish with a 10% bleach solution (100 mL bleach per 900 mL of water). Soak items for 10 minutes where possible.
• Let all boats and equipment fully dry in the sun prior to use in a different waterbody.
• Spread the word! The more people who are aware, the better.