Fish kills prompt soil conservation to prevent runoff

In an effort to prevent fish kills, work has begun in fields in West Prince, P.E.I. near Barclay Brook and Trout River to limit soil runoff.

It's an area that's experienced fish kills in past, including one earlier this summer.

Farmers are working with government and Trout Unlimited, a local watershed group, to take preventative measures.

On Friday, on two large fields in Mount Royal close to Barclay Brook, machines moved mounds of earth to create berms to divert runoff in heavy rain situations.

"With the berms and the terraces and stuff, they're going to break up the velocity [of the water runoff] before it picks up as much sediment and things like that," said Dale Cameron, project coordinator for Trout Unlimited.

In previous years there have been fish kills in Barclay Brook, some say runoff from nearby farms is to blame.

Last fall, a government-appointed committee made recommendations on soil conservation measures for the area.

Until now little has been donebut that changed earlier this month after alarge fish kill in the nearby Trout and Mill rivers at end of July.

"All producers are participating in this process, no matter whether they are directly implicated or not," said Tyler Wright, a soil and water engineer for the Department of Agriculture.

Bill McKendrick has been hired as a coordinator to work with close to a dozen farmers in the area to improve soil conservation measures.

"I think like everyone, they feel genuinely bad when they hear of a fish mortality in the area and they're willing to do whatever they can to solve this problem," he said.

"I've always said, I think the vast majority of farmers are doing a good job," said Cameron.