Fish tainted, tribe warns

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A Northern California Indian tribe wants state health officials to warn the public to avoid eating fish from several reservoirs because of contamination from an algal toxin.

The Karuk Tribe said toxicological studies commissioned by the California Department of Fish and Game found that fillets of yellow perch from Iron Gate and Copco reservoirs in Siskiyou County are riddled with the toxin. So are freshwater mussels in the Klamath River, which feeds the two reservoirs.

The reservoirs are consistently posted with health warnings against swimming or drinking the water, but fishing has not been mentioned.

Mussel samples contained 66 times the allowable seasonal intake for children, while toxin levels in yellow perch exceeded limits tenfold. The toxin can affect the liver.

- Times staff reports