Fish kill hits Rehoboth’s Silver Lake

Hundreds, likely thousands of fish are dead in Rehoboth Beach’s Silver Lake in the first fish kill there since 2008.

Dead fish could be seen floating from the Bayard Avenue bridge to Rehoboth Elementary School. Most appeared to be small perch or bass.

Rehoboth City Manager Greg Ferrese said the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Fish and Wildlife was called and has responded. Representatives from the division were not available for comment.

The last fish kill at Silver Lake occurred April 26, 2008, when low dissolved- oxygen levels decimated the lake’s largemouth bass population.

Todd Fritchman of Envirotech reported the 2008 fish kill, and he speculated similar factors may be at work in this one. He has not yet viewed the scene, but Fritchman said low dissolved-oxygen levels, caused by the high heat this summer, could have contributed to the kill. He said the hotter the water, the less dissolved oxygen the lake will hold.

Fritchman said other factors could be sediment from runoff and bacteria blooms.