Thousands of farmed fish die in Port Angeles

WASHINGTON - Deadly ``brown tide'' swept through local waters last week, killing about 100,000 Atlantic salmon in the fish farm in Port Angeles Harbor before dispersing.

The loss in Port Angeles and at a second fish farm was estimated in the millions of dollars by American Gold Seafoods General Manager John Bielka,

Despite the severity of the outbreak, Bielka said ``it could have been a lot worse.''

With the brown tide -- caused by a single-celled, brown-colored organism called Heterosigma -- gone due to cooler temperatures and winds, operations are now nearly back to normal, Bielka said.

Source: Peninsula Daily News