Thousands Of Fish Dead In Sparks Marina

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Scott Sonner / Associated Press

(AP) -- State and wildlife officials are trying to determine why all the fish died in a Sparks marina -- a stocked fishery that has flourished since it was created east of Reno 14 years ago.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Fish biologists say as many as 100,000 trout, bass and catfish have died the past month in the Sparks Marina along Interstate 80.

Nevada Department of Wildlife spokesman Chris Healy says low oxygen levels killed about 3,000 fish in one corner of the 77-acre lake in mid-December but they thought the event was localized and of limited impact.

Since then, they've been unable to detect any live fish.

Biologists say a cold-snap could have stirred up oxygen-poor waters but they don't understand yet what caused the massive die-off.

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Joggers and dog-walkers make their way around the Sparks Marina, Wednesday Jan. 15, 2014 in Sparks, Nev. State wildlife biologists are trying to figure out what caused the kill-off the man-made lake's entire stocked fishery an estimated 100,000 trout, bass and catfish. The 77-acre marina sits in an old rock quarry along U.S. Interstate 80 just east of Reno.