Dead fish headed for Nevada landfill

RENO -- A lot of the northern pike swimming in a popular Sierra Nevada lake are headed for a final resting place in Nevada.

Pike killed during the California Department of Fish and Game's eradication project will be trucked to the Lockwood landfill 10 miles east of Reno, double-bagged and buried, according to Tracie Douglas of Washoe County Environmental Health Services. She expects up to hundreds of thousands of dead fish.

Pike were discovered in Lake Davis in 1994. The invasive predator has taken over what was a major trout fishery at the lake, biologists said. Officials fear the pike could escape the lake and become established in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta.

California officials tried to eradicate pike with the poison called rotenone in 1997, but that attempt failed or the fish were reintroduced to the lake. The latest effort, which also will use rotenone and which will cost up to $16 million, began Sept. 10.

Bill Carr, district manager for Waste Management Inc., said the loads of dead fish won't pose any challenge at the landfill, which regularly receives food products for disposal.