© Wei Peiquan / Xinhua
A fisherman in Gutian county, Fujian province, checks his pond, which is covered by dead fish.
A fisherman in Gutian county, Fujian province, checks his pond, which is covered by dead fish.
Xiamen - Fish farms along the Minjiang River in the Shuikou Township section of East China's Fujian province have been hit by a wave of fish kills in recent days, but the cause has yet to be determined, local authorities said on Sunday.
Some 9,000 tanks of fish, including about 8,000 in Shuikou town and some 1,000 in Huangtian town, were reported dead as of Saturday, according to a release from the government of Gutian county, which administers the two townships.
One tank usually holds 3,500 to 5,000 fish.
"We're calculating the number of the dead fish and economic losses," said Zeng Lisheng, a Gutian publicity officer.
The river's Shuikou section is Fujian's largest freshwater fish cultivation base, and it provides local markets with about 100,000 kilograms of fish a day during harvest seasons.
Zeng said that local fishery and environmental protection departments are investigating the case and examining the water, but the reasons for the fish die-offs are unknown.
"We're mobilizing people, ships and vehicles to scoop up the dead fish, and we will bury them deeply under nearby hills with quicklime to prevent them from harming the environment," he said.
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