Companies Suspend Harvest Of Lake Algae

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - At least two food-supplement companies have suspended harvest of algae in Upper Klamath and Agency lakes after unusually high levels of toxic algae were found.

AFA Inc. in Modoc Point and Rossha Enterprises of Klamath Falls stopped collecting the type of algae known as Aphanizomenon flox-aquae after regular testing revealed unusually high concentrations of a toxic variety called Microcystis aeruginosa.

The bloom apparently peaked last Monday and has been decreasing, said Tom Bradley, general manger of AFA.

"Yes, we're concerned," Bradley said. "We're trying to track the movement of it. As of yet, we haven't got a handle on it."

"We are testing the products and we are testing the algae in the lake," said Rossha President Sharon Trunkey. "We will not resume harvesting until everything checks out.

Toxicologist Wayne Carmichael said he notified AFA, Cell Tech and Rossha Enterprises after recent tests showed high concentrations of the toxic algae.

Carmichael a professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, serves as an independent quality-control tester for Cell Tech and performed tests for AFA and the Klamath Tribes.

Carmichael said he wasn't able to contact a new company called Farmer Brown.

Algae is big business. The area's biggest distributor, Cell Tech, harvests 300,000 pounds a day during the season, which runs from late June to late September. The algae goes into food supplements. The company has 650 full-time workers and expects sales of $75 million this year.

Calls to Cell Tech were referred to spokeswoman Linda Livingston, who said she didn't know whether the company had curtailed harvests. However, the company regularly tests for the toxic algae, she said.

The algae can cause fatal liver damage, Carmichael said. A person or animal could die from drinking water near where the toxic algae is highly concentrated, but there have been no reports of illness stemming from the current bloom, Carmichael said.

Jacob Kahn, an aquatic ecologist with the Klamath Tribes, said the toxic algae bloom may have been related to unusually hot weather this summer.