CANMORE – The province of Alberta is investigating the cause of dead fish in Spring Creek in Canmore.
Tom McMillan, director of communications for Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, said the ministry is sending a team to conduct an inspection of the area after getting reports of dead fish in the local creek on Tuesday (Jan. 23).
“While winter kill is a fairly common occurrence at this time of year, we cannot speculate on causes until the biologists have had a chance to complete their work,” said McMillan.
“We will continue working with the community to support as needed.”
Reports from residents of dead fish in Spring Creek began circulating on local social media sites Monday (Jan. 22).
Brooks and browns are the primary trout species in Spring Creek.
The Town of Canmore was also looking into the matter.
“We will be reporting the findings to Alberta Environment and Parks,” said Town spokesperson Adam Robertson.
In January 2023, thousands of dead and dying fish were found in Vermilion Lakes near Banff.
After investigating, Parks Canada discovered that dissolved oxygen levels of the lake were very low, resulting in a naturally occurring phenomenon referred to as winterkill.
Winterkill, which most commonly affects shallow, nutrient-rich lakes and wetlands, occurs when ice and snow levels above the water’s surface become so thick that light cannot penetrate the water column.
As a result, aquatic plants and algae cannot produce oxygen through photosynthesis, resulting in a decrease in the amount of oxygen available to the aquatic life below the ice, which can cause mass fish die-offs.
White suckers and brook stickleback – which are native to Vermilion Lakes – were the species impacted by the winterkill.
The Outlook will update the story as more information becomes available.
