KILLS AND SPILLS: Investigators who work on behalf of the 
environment… just ahead on Passport to Texas.
 
This is Passport to Texas

If thousands of fish were to wash up dead on the Texas 
coast, biologists from Texas Parks and Wildlife 
Department’s Kills and Spills Team would be dispatched 
to the scene.

The Kills and Spills Team is a program in the Resource 
Protection division of the department, and is responsible 
for responding to fish kills, wildlife kills, oil spills and 
hazardous chemical spills.  The goal is to protect fish and 
wildlife from impacts caused by man-made pollution

While large fish kills attract the most attention, 
uncovering sources of ongoing low-level pollution is just 
as important. 	

Some of the most common fish kills that occur near 
communities are often small—sometimes associated with 
leaking sewer lines or overflowing manholes. These are 
segments of the waste-water collection and transport 
system that can fail.						 
 
But not all fish kills are caused by pollution.  It’s not 
uncommon to see dead fish when temperatures suddenly 
drop. Although the majority of fish kills we see are due to 
natural causes, pollution may be a factor.

TPWD encourages the public to call anytime it sees dead 
fish in the water and along shorelines. Doing so allows 
the agency to send out biologists to assess the situation. 

The Sportfish Restoration supports our series 

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.





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