Report on mass fish death released
An independent investigation has found that a catastrophic fish mortality event at the UC Davis Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture in August 2022 was caused by accumulation of mineral deposits inside sealed piping carrying wastewater away from the facility. This blockage caused chlorine, added to effluent water as a disinfectant, to back up to a water line used to lubricate pumps at the well supplying the fish tanks, and thus contaminate the tanks. There was no forewarning of the problem and no individual or group of individuals can be singled out as responsible, wrote Anthony Farrell, professor emeritus of zoology at the University of British Columbia, who conducted the investigation at the invitation of UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Research Prasant Mohapatra.