Pfiesteria and Fish "Cell from Hell"
Imagine it's mid summer, the water is about seventy-five degrees, and you are a Stripped bass. It is early morning, and you are looking for a meal to get you through the long day. You spot a pod of baitfish near the surface, so you go on the attack, devouring the tiny morsels until you have had your fill. After your morning snack you slowly cruze along the floor of the bay, stirring up mud as you gently fan your tail back and forth. Soon, you feel worse and worse: your movements slow down, you become disoriented, and small lesions form on your skin causing great pain. Less than twenty minutes later your energy is sapped, the symptoms started you turn belly up and die. Such was the case for tens of thousands of stripped bass and many other species of aquatic life forms in a 4.5 mile stretch of the Pocomock River in eastern Maryland . All of the suffering and dying fish are victims of a microscopic organism called Pfiesteria piscicida- Latin for "fish killer." This nasty one cell fish killer has been blamed for the death of billions of fish in North Carolina, Alabama and Maryland's Eastern Shore. All of this has earned it the name the "cell from hell" . The many unanswered questions about Pfiesteria have left everyone to wounder
He said this even though the Maryland Department of Natural Rresources (DNR) has not come up with any answer on the safety of the industry. The nutrients in the polluted runoff over enrich the bay and allow the Pfiesteria cells to thrive and kill whatever swims near. The manure runoff from the region's 600 million chickens is the main culprit. After that, it begins to slowly eat the helpless casualty leaving its immune system, nervous system, liver and kidney in shambles. Tourists have flocked to the beaches in recent years. Humans who are exposed to the toxins experience memory loss, dizziness, fatigue and asthmatic problems. To fully understand the situation one must know how Pfiesteria grows, attacks and eventually kills its victim. Further damage will be done to the commercial fishing industry due the loss of fish population that will take years to replenish, according to DNR biologist Ed Enimate. The only problem with stopping this poor management is the owners of these farms put many thousands of dollars into state political funds. This leads some to believe that the toxins are stored in body fat . With the source of the problem located, officials are now looking for ways to solve the problem and prevent future out breaks. Farmers of the area spread nutrients rich fertilizers over their fields, increasing the pollution level in the watershed's runoff. The economy is taking a hit in two ways. This is a problem that mother nature may never be able to fix. The blame for this can not rest entirely on the states for poor management, or the farmers who own the problem causing farms.
Common topics in this essay:
Ed Enimate,
Carolina University,
Striped Bass,
,
Howard Glasgow,
Rresources DNR,
Eastern Shore,
Pocomock River,
fish population,
stripped bass,
cell hell,
local economy,
poor management,
JoAnn Burkholder,
poor management farmers,
commercially harvested,
pfiesteria left,
harvested fish,
unanswered questions,
commercially harvested fish,
floor bay,
North Carolina,
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Acceptance Essays
