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When fish die, keep things in perspective
published August 5, 2003
Fish die in the natural course of things. They do it in hot weather and cold. They do it in high water and low.
But it's probably not normal to see tens of dead fish floating belly-up in Basin waterways, an occurrence that coincided with the recent hot spell. Thus the high interest in the dead fish discovered in Lost River and Upper Klamath Lake is understandable. But people should keep their perspective about such things.
Some of the fish were endangered varieties of shortnose and Lost River suckers - known as c'wam, quanto and yen to tribal members. The legal protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act give anything that affects them a heightened awareness. But let's remember we're talking about fewer than 200 suckers discovered over the course of about a week. While that can be a sign that something's wrong, it's not a lot of fish, and it's nothing to panic over.
Fish kills anywhere in the Klamath River watershed attract a lot of attention because of the Basin's battles over water, including the deaths of about 34,000 salmon on the lower Klamath River last year.
The California Fish and Game Department was unduly quick to point the finger of blame for that fish kill at the Klamath Reclamation Project, and its share of Klamath River water, but the scientific jury is still out. A federal study of the salmon fish kill has been long delayed. Next year, evidence about the fish kill will be heard in a federal court in a lawsuit pitting the Yurok Tribe on the lower Klamath River against the Bureau of Reclamation, which controls how much water is diverted to the Klamath Project and how much goes downriver.
We'd like to think that the court case would actually offer enough scientific evidence to be definitive, but that's no guarantee.
Meanwhile, let's keep cool even when the weather's hot and some fish are dying. Let's wait for the evidence to see if anyone besides Mother Nature is to blame.
The "H&N view" represents the opinion of the newspaper's editorial board, which consists of Publisher John Walker, Editor Tim Fought, City Editor Todd Kepple and Opinion Editor Pat Bushey. Most of the editorials are written by Bushey.
Fish die in the natural course of things. They do it in hot weather and cold. They do it in high water and low.
But it's probably not normal to see tens of dead fish floating belly-up in Basin waterways, an occurrence that coincided with the recent hot spell. Thus the high interest in the dead fish discovered in Lost River and Upper Klamath Lake is understandable. But people should keep their perspective about such things.
Some of the fish were endangered varieties of shortnose and Lost River suckers - known as c'wam, quanto and yen to tribal members. The legal protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act give anything that affects them a heightened awareness. But let's remember we're talking about fewer than 200 suckers discovered over the course of about a week. While that can be a sign that something's wrong, it's not a lot of fish, and it's nothing to panic over.
Fish kills anywhere in the Klamath River watershed attract a lot of attention because of the Basin's battles over water, including the deaths of about 34,000 salmon on the lower Klamath River last year.
The California Fish and Game Department was unduly quick to point the finger of blame for that fish kill at the Klamath Reclamation Project, and its share of Klamath River water, but the scientific jury is still out. A federal study of the salmon fish kill has been long delayed. Next year, evidence about the fish kill will be heard in a federal court in a lawsuit pitting the Yurok Tribe on the lower Klamath River against the Bureau of Reclamation, which controls how much water is diverted to the Klamath Project and how much goes downriver.
We'd like to think that the court case would actually offer enough scientific evidence to be definitive, but that's no guarantee.
Meanwhile, let's keep cool even when the weather's hot and some fish are dying. Let's wait for the evidence to see if anyone besides Mother Nature is to blame.
The "H&N view" represents the opinion of the newspaper's editorial board, which consists of Publisher John Walker, Editor Tim Fought, City Editor Todd Kepple and Opinion Editor Pat Bushey. Most of the editorials are written by Bushey.
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