Repeated fish kills at the Salton Sea appear to have finally taken a toll on the tilapia fish population. Just three years ago, experts estimated the tilapia population at more than 100 million. But continual fish kills, including the massive 15 million-plus kill in 1999, appear to have caused the population to drop to just a few million. The exact number of tilapia left in the sea is not known, but fisheries biologists, anglers and people who work around the sea all agree tilapia numbers are down dramatically. Riedel estimates are that 18 million tilapia died in fish kills between 1995 and 2000.
Fish kills occur when oxygen levels in the shallow sea drop because of heat and wind.
The tilapia population has also been hurt because few young fish born since 1995 have survived past one year. The fish that have been dying in fish kills over the last five years all appear to have been born in 1995, Riedel said. The county's vicious-dog law may get more bite. The Board of Supervisors gave preliminary approval Tuesday to an ordinance allowing officials to take owners of potentially dangerous or vicious dogs directly to court and apply tougher sanctions to ownership. Owners of problem dogs currently attend an office hearing with the county Department of Animal Care and Control, which almost always leads to a court appeal, spokesman Bob Ballenger said.