CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Marvin Jones is the President of the Padre Island Property Owners' Association; he said the fish clean up has been an all-hands-on deck effort over the course of the last couple of weeks.
"We had a huge clean up on Saturday, probably at least 100 volunteers," Jones said.
According to Jones, with help from residents, the city, and local contractors who have been working rigorously, they were able to to remove over 100,000 pounds of dead fish following the recent historic winter storm that blew through.
According to Dr. Larry McKinney, the Director of Gulf Strategies, the massive amounts of dead fish can raise concerns, but this isn't the first major fish kill, or the worst of its kind.
"Unfortunately, it does occur from time to time," McKinney said. "Although, the last incident like this was back in 1989 so it has been awhile and I understand people's concern who have not seen this before."
Some local fisherman said this is the worst fish kill they've seen in 100 years, but officials with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife said they do not have records that go back that far.
According to McKinney, the Coastal Bends fisheries are in overall good condition. He said he is hopeful for a recovery.
"We will know the full impact once parks and wild life does their March surveys," McKinney said.
McKinney added that although drum and trout have been seen among the piles, he doesn't expect to see bag limits or restrictions on game fish at this time, but it is also too soon to be sure.
"If we are lucky, we might not have to have any changes at all, but we have to reserve our judgement until we see the size," McKinney said.
If you notice any dead fish hot spots, you are asked to report them to the Padre Island POA for clean up at (361) 949-7025.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
More from 3News on KIIITV.com:
- COVID-19 vaccine in the Coastal Bend: Everything you need to know
- LIST: Where water boil notices have been lifted in the Coastal Bend
- H-E-B limiting purchases of certain products to help restore supply after winter storm
- 'Assembly Required': Corpus Christi native stars next to Tim Allen and Richard Karn in new History Channel show