Fish kill website:
reporting and recording fish kill events in
the upper Olifants River catchment
Olifants River Forum public meeting
Jackie Dabrowski, Dec 2012
What can you do about this?
Objectives
1) Develop a web-based fish kill reporting and information base for the upper Olifants
River catchment that can be used by anyone with internet access.
2) Ensure fish kills are recorded and archived in an accessible database to enable the
detection of high priority areas requiring management action, and to facilitate future
research efforts.
3) Connect fish kill reports to the appropriate team of professionals mandated to
respond from various management and research institutions.
Advancing the Science and Practice of Fish Kill Investigations
Van T. La & Steven J. Cooke
Reviews in Fisheries Science 19: 21-33 (2011)
“A quick, efficient and user-friendly reporting system is required to alert, and if necessary
direct investigators to fish kill sites.”
“We propose that future fish kill reporting strategies should use simple web-based
submission procedures.”
www.orf.co.za
Website live!
Report fish kills today!
Why report fish kills specifically?
What is the area covered by this service?
Who can report fish kills?
When should you report a fish kill?
How to report a fish kill?
Your feedback
Q1 What is a fish kill?
Q2 What to do if you observe a fish kill?
Q3 What are possible causes of fish kills in the upper Olifants River catchment?
Q4 How do you determine the cause of fish kills?
What happens next?
 Fish kill summary emailed to response team
 Summary available on fish kill database
 Response lead and co-ordinated by DWA RQS (Resource Quality Services)
 Response team:
DWA RQS
DWA Regional Office
DWA Blue Scorpions
Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA)
Olifants River Forum
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Summary
First in South Africa and Africa!
Potential to extend nationally facilitating research and management
Website maintenance by Coaltech
 Pollution events apart from fish kills
The record is as important as the diagnosis
Water meters for local managers?
 Generating awareness of the service (forums, printed media etc)
Feedback process
Questions and feedback?
Jackie Dabrowski
Tel: 083 2563159
Email: jdabrowski1@csir.co.za