At least 10 percent of all the fish in Sparks Marina are dead according to Nevada Department of Wildlife official Chris Healy. The Marina, which borders Interstate 80 near Reno, has as many as 1 million fish. The marina's fish population was stable and healthy up until recently. Approximately 3,000 other fish died in the man-made lake in mid-December. Officials didn't think the situation was that serious though. So far no one is sure what has caused the massive deaths.

"Everything is a theory right now," Healy remarked.

Healy went on to say that when the marina opened it was home to many fish.

"The 100,000 dead fish figure is something that is probably a pretty conservative guess," said Healy, who estimates they've stocked close to 1 million adult fish in the lake since they started in 1998.

"We don't know if any small fish have survived, but for all intents and purposes, the fishery doesn't exist anymore," he told the AP.

This fishing issue isn't just a big deal ecologically. The Sparks Marina has walking trails and picnic areas, in addition to playgrounds, piers and shoreline. Many community members and visitors come to fish in the lake. Hopefully these guests know the whole history of the site they visit. The AP reported that prior to the lake's construction the site it currently sits on was contaminated by pollutants in the late 80s. The site was completely chemical free by 1997.

The Reno Gazette-Journal published a story regarding the fish deaths after it talked to scientists familiar with the situation. The scientists tested the lake's oxygen levels and their findings were startling; 11 different areas of the lake had significantly low dissolved oxygen levels. A certain percentage of dissolved oxygen has to exist in order for the fish to survive and reproduce.

The city of Sparks wants to make known the fact that the marina is still very safe. Spokesman Adam Mayberry calls the die-off an odd, but seemingly random event.

"Even with the biological anomaly we are seeing, it's still a very safe body of water," he said. "You just can't fish in the marina right now because there aren't any fish there, and we are trying to figure out why."

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