[StBernard] Loads of dead fish wash ashore in St. Bernard Parish marshes

[Westley Annis]

Loads of dead fish wash ashore in St. Bernard Parish marshes
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
May 20, 2010, 6:18PM

Fishers in St. Bernard Parish have been spotting an unusual amount of dead
fish floating along the banks of the marshes in recent days, as the expanse
of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill creeps more into the marshes of Breton and
Chandeleur sounds.

On a trip to monitor his oyster leases earlier this week, Shawn Assavedo
came across a constant line of dead fish that spanned more than a mile along
the banks in Eloi Bay, in the eastern and southern fringes of St. Bernard's
marshes. He said other fishers had brought up the amount of dead fish in
recent days, but he underestimated the expanse of the problem until he saw
it.

"I was just looking for one or two dead fish here or there, I wasn't
expecting that kind of stuff," he said. "We've been living down here all our
lives, and haven't ever seen anything like this."

Assavedo spotted the collection of dead fish near the opening of the
Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Channel - in a remote section of St. Bernard
marshland. He said there wasn't visible heavy oil in the waterway.

Calls to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries were not
immediately returned Thursday evening.