DNR says large amounts of dead fish in Lake Holland are not a cause for concern

HOLLAND, Mich. – If you’ve spent time near Lake Macatawa in Ottawa County during warmer weather, you may have noticed a fish problem.

Dead fish are piled up at the southeast end.

“It’s nothing catastrophic,” said Brian Gunderman, who works for the Michigan DNR.

The issue caught the attention of people in the community, so 13 ON YOUR SIDE decided to investigate the cause of the problem.

“This is a pretty big fish kill,” Gunderman said.

However, Gunderman said the appearance of several hundred dead fish is not uncommon.

“We will have fish kills of this magnitude somewhere in southwest Michigan every year,” Gunderman said.

He said the fish that appear in Lake Macatawa are mainly freshwater drumfish, also called sheepshead fish. His team believes they will likely die from disease. Some have been collected and are currently being tested at Michigan State University.

“We also had people from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy go there. And they didn’t see any evidence of pollution or anything like that that was the cause of it,” Gunderman said.

Although fish kills of this magnitude happen every year, Gunderman said it’s still a little early. While illness can be a cause, temperature can also be a cause.

No matter the reason, the fishermen have no fear, Gunderman said the Lake Macatawa fishery is far from over.

However, if you plan to fish multiple lakes, he said, “Make sure you properly disinfect your boat and all of your equipment before you go out so you don’t scatter them.”

DNR said they wouldn’t clean up the fish, but animals would take care of some of the mess.

13 ON YOUR SIDE will post updates as we learn which disease is causing the problem.

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