Officials from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say this past winter was one of the worst for fish kills in Iowa in decades. The thick ice and heavy snow severely limited oxygen levels in the state’s lakes and ponds. D-N-R Fisheries biologist Paul Sleeper says that lack of oxygen suffocates the aquatic life trapped under the ice.
He says fish living toward the bottom of lakes are most vulnerable to suffocating.
Sleeper says fish in eastern Iowa were hardest hit since the snow cover was heaviest in that portion of the state.
