Glenn Martinez spent two days burying the hundreds of tilapia and koi that lived in a pond on his Waimanalo farm after the fish —worth thousands of dollars — mysteriously died Wednesday in one hour.
At about 7 a.m., just before the fish began struggling, white foam floated down a small stream and entered Martinez’s pond. He noticed something was amiss when he heard splashing and found the fish swimming on their sides and throwing themselves on the rocks.
"They went spastic on us," Martinez said. "Half our fish were already dead in 20 minutes."
About 500 tilapia worth $3,000 died, and 10 large koi, each worth between $2,000 and $10,000, died. Martinez spent 16 years raising the koi with his wife on their sustainable farm, Olomana Gardens, where plants are fertilized by fish waste. Martinez sells tilapia to restaurants and used to breed the koi to sell the young as pets.
"I’m just sick," said Martinez, adding that his koi were "the real prize of the place."
"It’s like having your prize stallion die," he said.
After he called the state Department of Health, officials began an investigation out of concern that whatever killed Martinez’s fish could be contaminating the brook that feeds the fishpond.
Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the state Health Department, said employees from the department’s Clean Water Branch walked about 1,000 yards of the stream above Martinez’s property Wednesday. They didn’t find any evidence of a spill and didn’t see any wildlife or dead fish.
"We did take samples from the property," Okubo said. "At this point we don’t have any clear indication of what could have cause the fish kill at this private pond."
A lab is screening the sample for the presence of petroleum products or poisons, and results could be available in a couple of days, she said. She said enforcement action could be taken if the department finds a health risk, can locate the source and is able to determine that there was intentional pollution.
The Health Department also notified the state Department of Land and Natural Resources because of the potential harm to wildlife. A spokeswoman at that department said officials are working with the Health Department, which has taken the lead in the incident.
Martinez said that as his fish were dying, the stream was covered in about two feet of thick, white foam. He tried to save his fish by pulling them out of the pond and putting them in tanks, but only one adult and three small koi survived. The dead koi were about 2 feet long, and some were about 8 inches wide. Some of the tilapia were a foot long.
Martinez suspects someone dumped pesticides into the stream above his property. He is frustrated with the state’s response, saying he wants the Health Department to take samples directly from the stream and find the source of the pollution.
"Where are all the safeguards … to keep this from happening again?" he asked.
He said if the violators aren’t punished, they will keep polluting the stream, which feeds into Waimanalo Stream and the ocean.
"It’s just going to happen again," he said. "They’re going to realize they can dump anything."
For the next couple of days, Martinez and his staff used a bulldozer to bury the fish on the property.
Martinez still has 2,000 tilapia, in tanks filled with tap water, that he raises to be sold in restaurants. However, right now he is done raising koi, which lived in stream water.
"I will never trust the stream again," he said.
