Turkish Man Says Fish Scooped Up With Water, Dropped On Fire

The owner of a fish farming pond in a village in Turkey is hopping mad and demanding compensation after a firefighting helicopter filled its tanks from his pond, and took several thousand fish along with the water.

Mehmet Kara in Baharli village claims the helo pilot, who was helping fight a fire in the Mugla province, was told not to fill there because the pond was stocked with more than 40,000 fish, but filled the tank there twice anyway, according to Today's Zaman.

During a third filling attempt, the pond owner's father, Eyüp Kara, got after the pilot... who then left without filling the tank.

"I told the pilot not to fill its tank here since there were fish in the pond. But he didn't listen to me," said the man. "The helicopter came here four times and filled its tank from our pond twice. Its propeller created waves in our ponds.

"When it left there were no fish on the surface of the pond. All of them settled. Our fish in the other ponds now don't rise to the surface because of stress."

Any fish that fell when the water was dumped were reportedly collected by people nearby.

"I want a settlement for my loss" the younger Kara said.

Mehmet Kara paid a visit to Milas Governor Bahattin Atçi armed with a report prepared by a team from the Milas Agricultural Directorate that described the incident and demanded recompense.

"We learned that fish farmer Mehmet Kara, who sent his petition to us, suffered loss because of the incident. His loss will be compensated after an investigation," said Milas Forestry Operational Director Ayhan Bayrak.

The governor said the farmer's loss will be covered by the state and said the situation was "very interesting."

FMI: www.tagem.gov.tr/eng/anasayfa.htm