Drought suffocates 1,200 tons of fish |
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Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:59
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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - An estimated 3 million fish have suffocated in a reservoir in southern Colombia, where a four-month drought has drastically drained water levels, leaving too little oxygen to sustain dozens of hatcheries.Since Sunday, more than 1,320 tons of tilapia raised inside giant metal cages have gone belly-up and floated to the surface behind the Betania hydroelectric dam, where scorchingly high temperatures have lowered water levels by 82 feet in recent months.The local fish industry, which exports the tilapia as fillets to the United States and Europe, could lose more than $2 million, said Eliseo Motta, government secretary in Huila state, where the dam is located.'Every day the reservoir levels just get lower,' Motta told The Associated Press by telephone from Betania, where he was supervising work crews burying and incinerating the dead fish.Colombia's government has temporarily banned the sale of fish produced in Betania's hatcheries to protect consumers from possibly contaminated fillets. Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias also promised $700,000 in federal subsidies and tax credits to help the hatcheries recover.Colombia also has asked the Spanish power company Endesa SA to gradually restore the reservoir's water levels by scaling back production of electricity at the dam.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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1,300 tons of fish suffocate in Colombia 