Feb 28, 5:13 PM EST

*Colombia Drought Suffocates 3 million Fish*

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press Writer

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.