PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Teams of researchers say they have found alarmingly low levels of oxygen at the bottom of Narragansett Bay that make it impossible for fish and crabs to live there.

The scientists tested 53 locations from Providence to just north of Jamestown and said the levels of oxygen they measured in water below four meters, or about 12 feet, could not support bottom-dwelling fish and crabs.

But they said the bay water tested above four meters generally contained suitable oxygen, allowing fish to survive near the surface.

W. Michael Sullivan, the director of the state Department of Environmental Management, said global warming was contributing to the low levels of oxygen. He said the annual average temperature of the bay water had increased by three degrees in 50 years.

Researchers said other factors include hard rains, calm winds and nutrients from sewage that flows into the bay through septic systems and treatment plants.

Chris Deacutis, chief scientist for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, said the findings were not surprising since fish have been absent from much of the bay bottom for at least the past few summers.

“The upper Bay and the Providence River definitely have pretty bad water on the bottom, and Greenwich Bay does, too,” Deacutis said.

Though the researchers said they found unsuitable levels of oxygen in every place they tested below 12 feet, clams are able to survive in those conditions for at least a month.

The samplings were taken Thursday by teams from the Estuary Program and from Brown University.

Rhode Island has taken steps to reduce the nutrients flowing into the bay, and Sullivan said he would like for Massachusetts to mandate similar nitrogen reductions.

“Why should Rhode Island continue to live with the flushing of Massachusetts toilets?” he asked.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/

AP-ES-08-05-06 1356EDT