…Maqalika ordeal
By Liapeng Raliengoane
MASERU – Following the announcement by the Water and Sewage Company (WASCO) cautioning the nation about large quantity of fish found dead in Maqalika Dam last Sunday, the Ministries of Water Affairs, Natural Resources, Environment and Agriculture joint forces to tackle the affliction.
The representatives from these ministries were collecting water samples, and dead fish for disposal and tests yesterday at Maqalika.
This announcement warned the nation to avoid swimming, fishing and taking animals to drink this water as the test were yet to be made as to the causes of mass death of the fish.
In an interview with Informative Newspaper, a representative from the Ministry of Natural Resources Nthati Toae revealed that as soon as they heard of the ordeal, they coordinated with other relevant ministries to work together.
She said when they reached this place, they observed that the water was green with algae, which is an indication of eutrophication. Which she explained as an excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, which causes a dense growth of plant life.
Eutrophic waters are said to eventually become dead zones that are incapable of supporting life, due to the fact that animals living in water cannot get oxygen.
Toae also indicated that they also observed that it was only a certain type of fish that had died which is called Common Carp.
Furthermore, she reiterated that they had taken 24 water samples from 12 sampling points for lab testing and they will know from the results what cause is.
Another Representative from the Department of Livestock, ‘Mankeana Mofoti said their department took water samples, dead fish and an alive fish on Sunday and took them to the lab for tests. She said, to their knowledge there are two types of fishes that are found in Maqalika which are Common Carp and Catfish but they did not find any dead Catfish.
Mofoti disclosed that after people heard of this ordeal, and as they were cleaning up the dam, some farmers came up as requested to take the dead fish to make manure for their plants. They researched as to how the farmers will go about it and were assured they would follow procedures. She said they agreed to this because there is a group that was capacitated on making manure out of fish and the department will be following up on it all steps to ensure safety to both the environment and people.
Last but not least, a representative from the Department of Environment, Kobeli Thabo Tšasanyane said eutrophication happens over a long period of time.
Tšasanyane applauded the coordination done by different departments and ministries as soon as the ordeal was announced. He said as the department of Environment, they are waiting for results from the labs to indicate what the problem is and they will take it from there.
Unusual algal bloom, suspected cause of fish deaths
…Maqalika ordeal
Liapeng Raliengoane
MASERU – Following the announcement by the Water and Sewage Company (WASCO) cautioning the nation about large quantity of fish found dead in Maqalika Dam last Sunday, the Ministries of Water Affairs, Natural Resources, Environment and Agriculture joint forces to tackle the affliction.
The representatives from these ministries were collecting water samples, and dead fish for disposal and tests yesterday at Maqalika.
This announcement warned the nation to avoid swimming, fishing and taking animals to drink this water as the test were yet to be made as to the causes of mass death of the fish.
In an interview with Informative Newspaper, a representative from the Ministry of Natural Resources Nthati Toae revealed that as soon as they heard of the ordeal, they coordinated with other relevant ministries to work together.
She said when they reached this place, they observed that the water was green with algae, which is an indication of eutrophication. Which she explained as an excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, which causes a dense growth of plant life.
Eutrophic waters are said to eventually become dead zones that are incapable of supporting life, due to the fact that animals living in water cannot get oxygen.
Toae also indicated that they also observed that it was only a certain type of fish that had died which is called Common Carp.
Furthermore, she reiterated that they had taken 24 water samples from 12 sampling points for lab testing and they will know from the results what cause is.
Another Representative from the Department of Livestock, ‘Mankeana Mofoti said their department took water samples, dead fish and an alive fish on Sunday and took them to the lab for tests. She said, to their knowledge there are two types of fishes that are found in Maqalika which are Common Carp and Catfish but they did not find any dead Catfish.
Mofoti disclosed that after people heard of this ordeal, and as they were cleaning up the dam, some farmers came up as requested to take the dead fish to make manure for their plants. They researched as to how the farmers will go about it and were assured they would follow procedures. She said they agreed to this because there is a group that was capacitated on making manure out of fish and the department will be following up on it all steps to ensure safety to both the environment and people.
Last but not least, a representative from the Department of Environment, Kobeli Thabo Tšasanyane said eutrophication happens over a long period of time.
Tšasanyane applauded the coordination done by different departments and ministries as soon as the ordeal was announced. He said as the department of Environment, they are waiting for results from the labs to indicate what the problem is and they will take it from there.