TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP MARCH 10-13, 2000     Fish Kills In The United States Prior To 1900     Andrew J. Mitchell   Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, P. O. Box 860, Stuttgart, AR 72160     The recent interest in wild fish kills on the eastern seaboard has provided an incentive to highlight historical fish kills in the United States.  Early (prior to 1900) fish kills may provide an understanding of the origin and nature of the recent fish mortalities.   Two kills were reported prior to the establishment of the United States in 1776.  Captain John Smith reported crowded, topping, and dead fish from natural waters in Virginia between 1607 to 1609.  In 1698, there was a report in the Council Papers of Virginia of great fish kills resulting from the killing and processing of whales in the Chesapeake.  The next document appeared about 180 years later when in 1867 A. L. Adams reported American herring dying off the northern coast of Maine.  There were 45 more publications of fish kills from 1867 to 1900.   Within these 45 publications are reports of a large bluefish kill at the beginning of the nineteenth century and another kill of unspecified fish in 1836. In 1882, Captain J. W. Collins reported on a massive mortality of tile fish off the coasts of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.  He estimated losses at more than 14 billion pounds (possibly the largest fish kill ever reported). More than 39% (18 of 46) of the nineteenth century fish kill reports were from the Gulf of Mexico.  Included in these reports was a description of a red tide kill as well as many interesting theories on possible causes for the other kills.  Less than 29% (13 of 46) of the kills were reported from fresh water streams and lakes.  The first known pathological evaluation of fish in the U. S. was done on dead and dying fish from a large fish kill at Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, in 1884.  Stephen A. Forbes used histological and bacterial staining techniques to evaluate the cause of the deaths.     Return to 25th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page