Stay in Touch with MDC news, newsletters, events, and manage your subscription
Xplor reconnects kids to nature and helps them find adventure in their own backyard. Free to residents of Missouri.
A monthly publication about conservation in Missouri. Started in 1938, the printed magazine is free to residents of Missouri.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is investigating a fish kill at Blue Springs Lake in Jackson County. Only common carp have been affected. About 10,000 carp have died, said MDC Fisheries Biologist Jake Allman. Dead carp were reported at the lake during the week prior to the Memorial Day weekend. The fish kill has continued but appeared to be easing this week, Allman said.
Laboratory tests will be conducted to determine the cause. A disease affecting common carp is suspected, said MDC Regional Fisheries Supervisor Pam Lanigan. Water quality does not appear to be a factor.
Whatever is causing the carp to die has not affected the most popular sport fish for anglers at the lake such as bass, crappie, catfish and bluegill, Lanigan said.
Fish kills due to natural causes are not uncommon. Carp are an exotic, invasive species. The carp losses could benefit the other sport fish in the lake that compete for food and habitat.
MDC biologists will continue to monitor the fishery at the lake. Fish diseases are not transmissible to humans.
Blue Springs Lake is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and public recreation areas at the lake are managed by the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department.
Questions about human-health issues related to this fish kill, or closings of any lake facilities should be directed to Jackson County Parks and Recreation or the Jackson County Health Department.
