A lot of the tribs have been too iced up for anything to get in, we shall see in the next week or so if there is much left to run. But they cited reports from the Genesee and other tribs of the same phenomenon I have not had a lot of time as I have been manually clearing snow before it could end up in my living room first, now my basement, but the data from tissue analysis of the fish, controlled with Lake Erie fish, showed dangerously low Vitamin B levels in both liver tissue and muscle tissue. One pathologist had said that a fish with the B1 level seen was technically dead, and if not, would be soon. And, if the alewife came through this winter like last, get ready for Round 2. But they have or anticipate having the fish they need at the hatchery, and they can get the adults to recover with B injections. And, yes, it is possible to play a fish to death, if you are overly concerned about the dead fish call DEC and ask them to close the river for a year or two. After that, call the lottery people and ask them for next week's winning number!
I do want to point out that the job done by DEC on this rivals anything you'll see on CSI, absolutely amazing forensics involving a lot of dedicated and insightful scientists working tirelessly to get such a detailed answer in a VERY short time period (at least as seen by those of us who have worked in science and know how painfully slow it can sometimes be.) Also, I don't think there is anyone to point the finger at, we are dealing with a bunch of exotic species in a foreign environment, and how they behave under different stressors is basically anyones guess sometimes. This was the "perfect storm" for steelhead mortality (and my have just been a close call for all the alewife eaters).
I can't believe that anyone who lived within 20 miles of Pulaski didn't go to the meeting considering the events of the past year and the studied opinions that have been flying right and left.