A discharge from a local catfish feed plant killed fish in a slough behind Bill McCarter’s and Tom Boggs’ house on Lamar Avenue in Demopolis.

The fish kill was reported Thursday to city officials by Demopolis resident Tom Boggs.

We are making every effort to resolve any problems associated with this matter."

A foul odor in the area is said to come from the fish kill.

The type of fish killed was shad, a herring-like fish, according to a state fisheries report.

The fish died because of low oxygen "which is not an unusual occurrence at this time of year, regardless," said Teresa Adams, environment compliance coordinator for the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

…Shad die very easily anytime the oxygen levels are low," Adams said. "…It’s just a natural event during the summer. You have areas were it’s shallow and the oxygen is very low. They die very quickly and easily when they don’t have oxygen.

This was organic material. There weren’t any chemicals that went into the water."

SouthFresh has pledged to clean up the sludge and dead fish, said Demopolis City Clerk Vickie Taylor.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers reported the incident to the Alabama Department of Environment Management (ADEM) and the state fisheries officials, Adams added.