A human is 98% water, 78% of the earth is covered with water, living things can survive without food but not without water, and for fish their whole environment is water. We humans profess to be the smartest species on the earth, but I see very little to support this theory. Just look at the air above Los Angeles and you get an idea of how well we manage our environment. We have succeeded in polluting every corner of the earth in one way or another, but we seem to be getting smarter as time goes on, or perhaps as time runs out. Our actions impact every natural resource on the earth. Our streams and oceans are at our mercy and they have reason to be terrified. Mining, logging, farming, factories, housing developments and dams have poisoned every stream and lake they have bordered. The fish populations dwindle, and now we have quotas. But quotas can't address the problem of water. Everyone wants the biggest piece of the pie. Industry, farming, reservoirs, all get priority because of the almighty dollar. Every year we plead for water for the Klamath River drainage, the largest drainage in California. Every year we get less.

This October marked the third anniversary of the massive 100,000 fish kill on the Klamath River in California. This was the perfect example of low water's impact on fish mortality. A cold water release from the dams brought fish into the system in large numbers, was shut down too soon, the water heated up, oxygen levels plummeted, the fish were stressed, and disease took over and killed them. This October, I received a press release from the OPA Water Boards informing me that samples of water taken from Copco and Iron Gate Reservoirs showed levels of the toxic blue-green alga Microcyctis Aeruginosa had exceeded "the World Health Organization standard for recreational use by 468 times . . . . highest recorded in the United States" with exposure ranging "from mild, non-life threatening skin conditions to permanent organ impairment and death". This was not news to me, as members of the Karuk tribe had already told me that dogs had died upstream. I had seen this phenomenon on a smaller scale in Clear Lake, California as a result of runoff from the rice ponds next to Rodman Slough. Once they were abandoned and fertilizers stopped flowing, even the delicate fresh water sponges returned.

So what is the answer? Water is the answer. Free flowing, clean, water in abundance as it once was. Not likely!! The first job would be to eliminate the dams upstream that hold water for farmers both local and way into southern California. Since we cannot expect this to happen. The next step would be to work out a clean up of the water behind the dams and a redistribution of the water reserves that gives the fish a chance to survive. This doesn't sound that hard, does it? The agriculture interests can take several steps to facilitate this process such as more efficient irrigation methods, crop rotation, and abandonment of chemical fertilizers. The government has subsidized non-production before, and now would be a great time to change gears, go organic, and get the farmland and the Klamath drainage healthy again.

Right here in little Crescent City we have a company that's taking the farming industry in the right direction. Since 1993, Eco Nutrients has produced a totally organic product that offers farmers answers to many of their production problems and is stream friendly as well. Waste from seafood production was overflowing our landfills, so Eco Nutrients took this problem and turned it into a solution. They process approx. 40,000 pounds of fresh carcasses and whole fresh fish from the Pacific Northwest fishing industry to produce an organic fish fertilizer that is the equivalent of the old Indian custom of planting a fish under each plant. Farmers using chemical fertilizers are seeing yields dropping off and they have begun going back to organic or natural fertilizer to replace not only the main nutrients but also the micro nutrients and microrrhizal fungi in their soil. Utilizing a simple, energy efficient system, Eco-Nutrients offers an organic product that is approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute and can even be applied right to the leaves of the plants. Kirk Sparks, the Manager, gave me a tour of the plant, and when I say simple and energy efficient I mean it. They grind the fish and use an enzymatic low heat process to reduce the slurry into a refined liquid fertilizer that is 98% fish with a trace amount of phosphoric acid for stabilization. Any bits of fish bone, etc. are introduced into compost that they can't keep in stock, so waste byproducts are non-existent. Eco-Nutrients, Inc. also harvests by hand the kelp leaves of the "Bull Kelp" to produce a bio-stimulant humate product. The plant growth regulators in kelp relieve plant stress, and aid in cold hardiness, mite control, drought resistance, and root growth and the harvested kelp "leaves" regenerate themselves fully within a week or two, so environmental impact is nil. Here is an example of a problem - too much landfill waste, turned into a wonderful alternative to more empty dangerous chemicals in our environment. These products revitalize dead soil, bringing the vegetable, mineral, and insect cultures back into operation and are completely absorbed and utilized by the starved earth. Even if they were to enter the water table, they are natural and non-toxic. After all, the dead carcasses of the spawned out adults that fill the rivers every year are a vital link in the food chain for the new generation.

Re-engineering water application to be distributed more efficiently and using organic fertilizers in a drip or tape system can help reduce the water needed to produce top notch crops. Re-thinking what we are doing to the soil systems themselves and the water that surrounds them can mean the water available for our streams and rivers will be toxin free. This could be part of the complex answer to a more vital water supply for our fish.

Sages of old reminded us of two concepts: the earth is our mother, we must protect her; and everything in balance and moderation. Now is the time to listen to them, before time runs out.