Where have the bass gone?

Image by Flickr user tedkerwinImage by 20080921striperfish.jpg Where's the fish?

The striped bass has become conspicuously missing in lakes Marion and Moultrie, despite stocking some 2 million young fish a year, and rumors are swirling as to why.

Listen long enough and you'll hear folks talk about "tributyltin." It's a potent chemical that was spilled upstream nearly a decade ago and is often used to ward kill of marine life (think for use on boat hulls).

But little evidence has turned up to support that theory, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and most environmentalist seem to say its far more likely that the drought, competition for the fish, and bad luck are to blame.

The Post and Courier did lots of digging, go have a read.

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