Highland Glen Park fish still safe to eat with parasite

Last weekend's Children's Fishing Derby, part of the Highland Fling, was canceled because there wouldn't have been enough fish to catch in the Highland Glen Park pond. The fish have been dying because they're infected with a parasite called ichthyophthirius multifiliis.

Don't worry, though -- if you've eaten a fish you caught in the pond you won't get sick. The parasite isn't harmful to humans, but it's lethal to fish.

The parasite causes "white spot disease," according to the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences' Web site. It's highly contagious, and can cause "massive mortality within a short time. An outbreak of 'ich' is an emergency situation which requires immediate treatment: If left untreated, this disease may result in 100 percent mortality."

"It is like they are sprinkled with salt," said Chris Penne, community fisheries biologist for the state Division of Wildlife Resources. "It attacks the epithelium or outer skin of the fish so they do not get enough oxygen. It is the same fungus which can get into indoor fish aquariums.

"The only way to get rid of it is to let it run its course," Penne said. "Its average life span is three or four days. Right now the pond is the ideal temperature for the fungus to thrive, from 65 to 70 degrees. When the water cools off it will go away."

The DWR usually stocks the pond several times a year with trout in the colder months and with catfish when it gets warmer. It did not stock it this summer because any new fish would be susceptible to the parasite infestation.

Penne, who monitors community fish ponds throughout the state, said he can only speculate on how the parasite got into the pond.

"It could have been a wild fish or someone might have dumped their fish from an aquarium in it," he said. "We know it was not from the fish we stocked in the spring because they are monitored very closely."

Signs have been posted in the park explaining the problem and reassuring patrons the parasite is not harmful to humans.

The pond will be stocked again next year.