DYING FISHES

Question
Hi,
I don't quite know whether to ask this question under the fishing section or the aquarium. It's about the general behavior and biology of wild fishes. I live in northern new jersey, and recently I went fishing at a nearby lake. This lake has a sort of dam/waterfall at one end, and at the bottom there is a small pool where the waterfall lands that connects to a small river. When I went fishing this time, the waterfall had stopped flowing and no water was being added to the pool below. I was also surprised to see that the pool under the dam was no longer connected to the river, as a patch of land now separated the two (the water dried up in between the pool and the river). The pool is about 2 feet deep at the very deepest, with no vegetation and a rock bottom. It is about 8 feet wide by 15 feet long. The pool always has some fish in it that fell over the waterfall, but when I visited this time, there were probably over 120 fish in the small pool. There were sunfish, bluegill, small largemouth bass, catfish, and a large pickerel. All of the fish, including the catfishes, were gasping at the surface. I know there must be a lack of oxygen, but i thought catfish and pickerel could breathe air from the atmosphere. The next day I came back, and I was surprised to see that about 30 of the sunfish were dead, at the bottom and top. Also, the enormous pickerel that has lived there for 5 years was lying dead outside of the water, and I assume he must have jumped to "greener pastures". I'm just wondering, do the otherfish even have a chance to survive this? thanks

Answer
Hi,
It's mainly amazonian catfish that have the labyrinth organ, so the catfish in the USA cant breath air nearly as well, yet they still can in very little amounts. The problem with this is the dying fish and the pond naturally produce methane and CO2, drastically reducing any oxygen in the air over the pond.

None of the fish will survive, unless a miracle happens. I think your neck of the woods is due for rain soon according to fox news, so that might save some of the fish, however due to various poisonings and damages that happen to fish in situations like these i doubt any of them will ever fully recover.