Government has asked for the public's help in keeping track of fish kills around the Island.

People can assist by collecting data including the date, time, location, species, appearance and number of dead fish they find.

By doing so they will be helping the newly assembled Fish Kill Task Force get a better understanding of what is going on within the ecosystem.

Fred Ming, Director of Environmental Protection, said: "We are only a handful of people trying to ascertain what is happening within our ecosystem and the public's assistance will be invaluable in helping us gain a clearer picture of these types of events."

In August and September of last year the Island experienced one of the worst fish kills in recent memory. 'Fish kills' is a term used when fish populations die off — it is often the result of oxygen depletion or other factors like high temperatures or algae bloom.

The Department of Health, Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Conservation Services joined with local non-governmental organisations such as Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) to determine the cause of the die-off.

Dr. Ming said: "The fish kill that took place last summer was an extreme event. Fish kills happen quite often all over the world and in Bermuda but are usually small, local occurrences."

The public are asked to be careful when handling sick of dying fish, particularly when they are showing obvious signs of distress like flapping around the ocean surface.

While people are advised not to take and eat the fish, there have been no health related issues during past fish kill events.

For more information or to report a fish kill, call 705 FISH or e-mail fisheries@gov.bm.