Tens of thousands of fish perished at a facility at University of California, Davis, according to authorities with the school.
Officials announced the “catastrophic failure” on Thursday, releasing a statement on the situation which took place at the UC Davis Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture (CABA). They said 21,000 fish died in what appears to have been a tragedy caused by exposure to chlorine, “to which fish are especially sensitive.”
The statement explained that they are “[i]nvestigating where our process failed,” telling regulatory and funding groups about the situation, taking care of the fish that lived, looking into practices in other similar spaces, and starting “an independent external review,” as well as other action items.
One type of research that was being carried out at the Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture included investigating “bioenergetics and environmental stressors on fish species, which included green and white sturgeon, as well as endangered Chinook salmon.”
The school pointed out that there are lots of other spaces that were not affected by the catastrophe where UC Davis carries out research. They are, however, looking into other facilities that might be at risk for a similar chlorine disaster.
“We know that many researchers, regulatory agencies, Native American tribes and other partners trust us to care for their aquatic species,” the statement noted. “We will work hard to earn that trust by conducting a thorough review of our facilities, holding ourselves accountable for what happened, and taking steps to prevent it from happening ever again.”
“We share the grief of the faculty, staff and students who worked to care for, study and conserve these animals. The people who conduct and support the research at this facility are conservationists, ecologists and veterinarians whose life work is devoted to understanding and supporting these species,” it continued. “We recognize that this loss is particularly devastating to our community. We commit to understanding what happened and making changes to the facility so that we can ensure that this does not happen again.”
The Daily Wire asked UC Davis News & Media Relations contact Andy Fell if there are plans to restart the research after more fish are restored to the facility.
“Yes, at the moment we are focused on determining the exact cause and making sure it can’t reoccur,” Fell answered over email.
The CABA website noted that the facility “was established to provide leadership, focus, and support to University of California Davis researchers in addressing problems associated with California’s cultured and wild aquatic biological resources.”
The center and its aquatic research spaces also “provide the basic infrastructure” for College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences departments, and other departments across the college, to carry out research and affiliated programs.
The University of California recently admitted a record number of in-state students after facing pressure to cut down on the amount of international and out-of-state students in the university. Last year, the school threw out any required standardized testing for admission after temporarily ending the SAT and ACT the year prior over alleged biased outcomes.