By Kristin Espeland-Gourlay
Louisville, KY – Five fish species found in the Southeastern United States may soon be placed on the Endangered Species List. As the Ohio River Radio Consortium's Kristin Espeland Gourlay reports, wildlife officials blame human activities for their decline.
The Cumberland, rush, and yellowcheek darters, the chucky madtom, and laurel dace were once found in clear running streams in parts of the Southeast, including Kentucky and Tennessee's Upper Cumberland river system. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that changes in habitat have shrunk the range and numbers of each of these small fish to less than a mile or two of stream and if nothing is done to protect them not enough individuals to sustain a population. Silt from mining, construction, agriculture, and other human activities has clouded their streams. Chemical pollution and dams have also hurt the species. And their decline could affect others that depend on them. The fish have been candidates for the Endangered Species List for several years; this is the first time the service has proposed actually listing them.