TITLE: Red tide algae kills fish

COLUMN: State briefs

CREDIT: Houston Chronicle News Services

EST. PAGES: 1

DATE: 10/16/97

DOCID: HOU3008840

SOURCE: Houston Chronicle; HOU

EDITION: 3 STAR; SECTION: NEWS; PAGE: 4

ORIGIN: PORT ISABEL

(Copyright 1997)

PORT ISABEL - A norther that swept cooler temperatures into Texas this week also stirred up a deadly bloom of red tide algae, causing thousands of fish to wash ashore along the lower Gulf Coast onWednesday.

Schooling fish, including mullet and menhaden, and some gamevarieties such as red fish and trout covered miles and miles of beach from Padre Island National Seashore south to Port Isabel. Scientists fanned out along the coast to count how many fish were killed.

Already, more than 14 million fish have died since red tide developed off the Texas coast last month. With the latest kill, this year's episode may rival the state's last major red tide outbreak, which killed 22 million fish over four months in 1986.

Red tide is a bloom of microscopic algae that attacks the nervous systems of fish. Although its toxins can kill many fish species, only infected clams, mussels and oysters are unsafe for human consumption.

OTHER TERMS: TexasFish Kill