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We call it the dead zone. It's the place in the Gulf of Mexico where nothing can live, except the algae that uses up all the oxygen in the water. No fish, no crabs, no oysters.
The size varies during the summer algae bloom, but it can grow to more than 8,800 square miles.
And that creates problems for the fishermen whose livelihood depends on the abundance of aquatic life in the Gulf. They have a hard job, made harder by losing an area of water that is just a hair smaller than the state of New Hampshire.
The problem is the runoff of nutrient-rich chemicals, manure and sewage from farms and homes in 31 states and two Canadian provinces along the Mississippi River that feed the algae blooms that kill everything else.
It's time to stop the cycle of algae bloom and fish kill in the Gulf.
Louisiana has already developed a program to help farmers reduce the amount of fertilizer they're using by learning to apply it selectively.
But Louisiana accounts for only 2 percent of the fertilizer runoff. The rest comes from farming states in the Midwest. Iowa and Illinois lead the nine states that contribute 75 percent to the problem.
And despite voluntary efforts funded by billions of federal dollars to decrease the amount of nitrate runoff by 30 percent by 2015, it has actually increased by 10 percent since 1980, according to an investigation by The Des Moines Register, the Daily World's sister paper in Iowa.
And don't forget that some Midwestern corn is being made into biofuels to compete with Louisiana's oil industry, all the while the runoff is polluting the Gulf.
And while at least two states - Minnesota and Wisconsin- limit the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous going into waterways, other states have opposed such restrictions.
That's understandable. Those farmers and lawmakers have a stake in preserving their own income and way of life.
And while Gov. Bobby Jindal indicated to a Register reporter that he would like to see progress toward solving the problem, he "stopped short of calling for tough regulations in farm states upstream."
Jindal is, of course, is holding true to his conservative principles.
But in life, sometimes, we compromise our principles when something larger hangs in the balance - like the well-being of our family. And the fishermen of Louisiana constitute the family he should be worried about - not to mention the offshore environment that is being destroyed each summer when the algae bloom.
And if the growth of the toxic runoff is left unchecked as the demand for agricultural products grows, who is to say how large the dead zone could ultimately become? Could it, years down the road, grow from to the size of Louisiana?
And who knows what kind of impact an expanded dead zone could have on the ecology of the ocean and the economy of the whole country?
It is clear that something has to be done -if not federal regulations, then a cooperative effort among the states involved.
The trick will be to convince people in those states. The challenge will be to find reasons why they should care.