Bacteria killing young Oahe white bass

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Game and Fish Department says a bacteria that killed young white bass in the Missouri River in South Dakota now has moved into North Dakota.

District fisheries supervisor Paul Bailey says a small number of yellow perch, black crappie and freshwater drum also have died.

Bailey says the bacteria are naturally present in most bodies of water and typically do not pose a problem unless fish become stressed or crowded.

He says there was an extraordinarily large year-class of white bass in Lake Oahe, and that warm water during the last several weeks likely was the stress needed to make the fish susceptible to a bacterial outbreak.

Bailey says he expects the fish kill to continue moving upstream until water temperatures cool.

Bailey says the bacteria does not affect the muscle of the fish, and anglers catching adult white bass need not worry about eating them.