Fisheries and Oceans Canada investigating fish die-off on Iqaluit shores
Researcher believes fish likely became trapped in low tide
The federal government is investigating what appears to be a die-off of fish washed up on the shores of Iqaluit.
Hundreds of fish were seen belly-up near Iqaluit's port Monday, and in a statement to CBC, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said it's not sure why.
Maxime Geoffroy, a research scientist at the Marine Institute with Memorial University of Newfoundland, has a few hypotheses.
The first, he said, is that the fish — which he believes to be Arctic cod — swam close to shore and then became trapped when water retreated at low tide.
"They kind of drift with the current and they might have followed some food there and then ended up on the coast and been stranded," he said.
He believes that's the most likely possibility. Another possibility is high sea surface temperatures. Geoffroy said without testing, it's difficult to confirm, but data on satellite maps doesn't show temperatures that are abnormally high. While unlikely, this theory isn't impossible, he said.
Lastly, and least likely, Geoffroy said it could be an accumulation of toxins in the water that caused the die-off. Warm weather sometimes causes toxic algal blooms that could transfer up the food chain to fish, though he said that's not common in the Arctic.
"But we also know that with climate change and global warming ... harmful algal blooms are becoming more frequent in the Arctic," he said.
He said a die-off like this isn't necessarily common, but it's not unheard of. Arctic cod are so abundant, he said, and with such a high stock, an event like this isn't likely to be problematic for the species.
However, if it is related to high sea surface temperatures or toxic algal blooms, then fish die-offs could happen more frequently or transfer the toxins to predators.
Geoffroy said he believes the coastal stranding is the most likely possibility, but without testing, the other options can't be ruled out.
While it investigates, DFO is warning that there could be health risks to handling or consuming fish that have been dead in the water for an unknown amount of time and for unknown causes, and is asking people not to remove the fish.
With files from Andrew Neary