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Tag: dead fish

  • High salinity present in European river after fish die-off

    Laboratory assessments following a mass dying off of fish detected excessive ranges of salinity however no mercury in waters of Central Europe’s Oder River, Poland’s surroundings minister stated Saturday. Anna Moskwa, the minister of local weather and surroundings, stated analyses of river samples taken in each Poland and Germany revealed the elevated salt ranges. Comprehensive toxicology research are nonetheless underway in Poland, she stated.

    Writing on Twitter, Moskwa stated take a look at outcomes transmitted from Germany had up to now not proven a excessive presence of mercury.The Oder River runs from the Czech Republic, often known as Czechia, and alongside the border between Poland and Germany earlier than flowing into the Baltic Sea. Some German media had reported that the river may very well be poisoned with mercury.

    Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated Friday that “huge amounts of chemical waste” have been most likely dumped deliberately into his nation’s second-longest river, inflicting environmental injury so extreme it could take years for the waterway to get well.On Saturday, Morawiecki vowed to do every thing potential to restrict the environmental devastation. Poland’s inside minister stated a reward of 1 million zlotys ($200,000) could be paid to anybody who helps monitor down these accountable for polluting the river.

    Authorities within the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania warned folks to not fish or use water from the Szczecin lagoon because the river’s contaminated water was anticipated to achieve the estuary space Saturday night.“The extent of the fish die-off is shocking. This is a blow to the Oder as a waterway of great ecological value, from which it will presumably not recover for a long time,” Alex Vogel, the surroundings minister for Germany’s Brandenburg state, alongside which the river runs.

    The head of Polish waters, Poland’s nationwide water administration authority, stated Thursday that 10 tons of useless fish had been faraway from the river. Hundreds of volunteers have been working to assist gather useless fish alongside the German aspect.

    German laboratories stated they detected “atypical” ranges of “salts” that may very well be linked to the die-offs however wouldn’t clarify them on their very own. Morawiecki acknowledged that some public officers have been “sluggish” in reacting after big numbers of useless fish have been first seen floating and washing ashore.

    Two Polish officers have been dismissed for what Morawiecki described as tardiness of their response. “If I come to the conclusion that there was a serious breach of duties, further consequences will be drawn,” the prime minister stated.“For me, however, the most important thing is to deal with this ecological disaster as soon as possible, because nature is our common heritage. It is a national good,” Morawiecki stated. His feedback have been echoed by Schwedt Mayor Annekathrin Hoppe, whose German city is positioned subsequent to Lower Oder Valley National Park. She referred to as the contamination of the river “an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented scale” for the area.

  • Tonnes of useless fish wash up on shore of polluted Lebanese lake

    Tonnes of useless fish have washed up on the banks of a lake on Lebanon’s Litani river, engulfing a close-by village in a pungent odor, in a catastrophe blamed on polluted waters.
    Volunteers collected rotting fish carcasses close to the Qaraoun lake on Lebanon’s longest river, the Litani, the place activists have warned for years of water air pollution attributable to sewage and waste.
    Piles of rubbish drifted within the lake close to the useless fish. Swarms of flies unfold close to the reservoir and 1000’s of fish had been decomposing in already soiled waters.
    “This phenomenon appeared on the shore of the lake several days ago,” stated Ahmad Askar, a neighborhood activist. “The fish started floating up, and in abnormal quantities…It’s unacceptable.”
    At least 40 tonnes have turned up useless in a couple of days, numbers which Askar and fishermen in Qaraoun described as unprecedented. They referred to as on the Litani river authority to search out the trigger and go after anybody dumping wastewater into the lake.

    The river authority stated this week that the fish had been poisonous and carried a virus, urging individuals to keep away from fishing all alongside the Litani on account of “an aggravated disaster that threatens public health”.
    The air pollution prompted a ban since 2018 on fishing within the reservoir, which was created in 1959 with a big dam to gather water for hydropower and irrigation.
    Last month, volunteers eliminated clumps of sticky tar from some seashores alongside the Lebanese coast after an oil spill which environmentalists warned would hurt marine life.

    Ecological disasters are the very last thing Lebanon wants because it suffers via an alarming monetary collapse and the aftermath of an enormous explosion that devastated Beirut port final August.