Heavy equipment has been bought in to clean up the thousands of dead fish in the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers, providing some relief to Long Branch after weeks of dealing with flies and a stench.

"It's a great sign," says Mike Lasko, of Long Branch. "The city of Long Branch is doing a tremendous job taking care of the cleanup and taking care of this problem."

Lasko lives next to the Shrewsbury River, and like other people around the area, they've been dealing with thousands of decaying, smelly menhaden fish.

"We've never seen it this early of the year in April," says Lasko. "Hopefully, it'll be getting better and we can see this go away.

A giant vacuum has been placed in the creek next to the Seawinds Condominiums. McVac, a company specializing in removing fish kills, will be on scene for at least two days at areas pinpointed in the region experiencing the worst buildup of dead fish.  

The fish kill was caused by a vibrio bacteria only affecting menhaden fish. Neighbors say it's the worst they've seen and smelled in 40 or 50 years. 

"The indication is there is still an active fish kill out there right now," says Long Branch Mayor John Pallone. "We are just glad to get started, and we are glad we are able to hopefully get ahead of this."

Cleanup costs around $10,000 to $12,000 a day. The towns affected are hoping to get reimbursed by the state for the money they have to put up to contracting crews to clean the decaying fish.