State environmental officials believe a broken net from a fishing vessel may be the source of dead fish washing ashore in southern New Jersey.
Hundreds of fish washed up on a beach in Cape May Point on Thursday night.
The 10- to 12-inch long fish are Bunker Fish. They're used as bait in fishing.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection tells NBC10.com they presume the fish were already dead when they broke free.
No formal cleanup is planned. Officials say the tide should wash the bunkers back out to sea.
Thousands of dead moss bunker washed up on beaches in Belmar last month. Officials believed depleted oxygen levels in the Shark River had killed the fish.
Copyright The Associated Press
