City Of Miami Tackles Fish Die-Off In Struggling Biscayne Bay

From the City of Miami:

August 16, 2020

The shocking environmental collapse of marine life in Biscayne Bay has galvanized local environmentalists and the City of Miami into emergency actions to deliver life-sustaining oxygen to marine animals, remove dead fish from the water and step up efforts to reduce pollution to the bay from lawns, septic tanks and sewers.

“The fish kill at Biscayne Bay is an environmental disaster and we need to take action right now,” said Mayor Francis Suarez. “The experts told us that the high temperatures and lack of oxygen in the water are to blame. That’s why we deployed emergency pumps to attempt to aerate the water. We worked with our partner organizations and departments to have compost receptacles so that volunteers can clean the bay of dead fish so it doesn’t contaminate other live marine life, among other immediate actions.”

“Biscayne Bay is literally on life support right now,” said Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, who represents many of the neighborhoods along Biscayne Bay. “This is the equivalent of putting a patient on a ventilator. Ultimately, we’re going to need the County and State to step up to help us bring the Bay back to health.”

On Friday, Dr. Rachel Silverstein from Miami Waterkeeper called Mayor Suarez, asking for pumps to help keep marine life in the Bay alive. The Mayor responded immediately. By Saturday afternoon, the pumps were up and running in three Miami parks -- Morningside, Margaret Pace and Albert Pallot. The pumps are being used to add oxygen to the water overnight, when oxygen levels in the struggling bay have been dropping to near zero, killing masses of fish and other marine animals. Scientists from local universities will measure oxygen levels before and after to determine the impact of the life-saving efforts.

“So many animals are struggling for air, this is a Hail Mary approach to try to save some of them,” said Silverstein, executive director of Miami Waterkeeper, an organization that monitors and educates the public about water quality in local waterways. “This is not a long term solution. We’re trying to provide a few safe zones for fish to get through the night.”

The City is also using boats to pick up dead fish and deploying another boat – the Scavenger 2000 -- to add to efforts to pump more oxygen into the water. And in partnership with the Fertile Earth Worm Farm, Miami Waterkeeper and others, the city is placing compost containers in three city parks to capture dead marine life collected by volunteers. Removing the dead fish will help reduce the amount of oxygen-depleting bacteria affecting the Bay.

The City is also working on educational materials to be distributed where fertilizers are sold, emphasizing city and state regulations that mandate that fertilizers are not to be used on lawns during the rainy reason, when most of the chemicals simply wash down our storm drains and into the rivers and Biscayne Bay. Earlier this year, the City passed the strongest fertilizer ordinance in the state to address pollution. Last year, in a measure sponsored by Russell, the City banned the use of herbicides containing glyphosate on city-owned property, preventing 5000 gallons a year of chemicals from going into the waterways.

Locations (for both pumps and fish composting bins):

Morningside Park, 750 NE 55th Ter., Miami, FL 33137

Albert Pallot Park, 601 NE 39 St., Miami, 33137

Margaret Pace Park, 1745 N Bayshore Dr, Miami, 33132

Note, the compost bins are for fish and organic materials only. No plastic, please. The public can contact hello@miamiwaterkeeper.org for any questions or concerns.

This press release was produced by the City of Miami. The views expressed here are the author’s own.