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Riddles about the fish kill in the Oder: Do the water analyzes of the Szczecin Lagoon bring new insights? 

2022-08-19T06:24:15.735Z


Riddles about the fish kill in the Oder: Do the water analyzes of the Szczecin Lagoon bring new insights?  Created: 08/19/2022, 08:13 By: Naima Wolfsperger The search for the reason for the fish deaths in the Oder is difficult. Water analyzes of the western Pomeranian Szczecin Lagoon will be presented on Thursday. Fish kills in the Oder: The search for the cause continues Water analysis of the


Riddles about the fish kill in the Oder: Do the water analyzes of the Szczecin Lagoon bring new insights? 

Created: 08/19/2022, 08:13

By: Naima Wolfsperger

The search for the reason for the fish deaths in the Oder is difficult.

Water analyzes of the western Pomeranian Szczecin Lagoon will be presented on Thursday.

  • Fish kills in the Oder: The search for the cause continues

  • Water analysis of the West Pomeranian Szczecin Lagoon: press conference expected

  • Tourism on the Oder: completely collapsed

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Frankfurt (Oder)/Ueckermünde - More than 36 tons of dead fish were pulled from the Oder in Germany alone.

Many times more in Poland.

The natural disaster in the 840-kilometer river shocked both countries.

The search for the cause is in full swing.

But whether there will be a clear explanation remains unclear for the time being.

The press conference of Till Backhaus, Minister of the Environment in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, could provide insight this Friday.

At 11 a.m., Backhaus will present water analyzes for the western Pomeranian part of the Szczecin Lagoon.

According to the Brandenburg Environment Ministry on Thursday, the Berlin-Brandenburg State Laboratory (LLBB) continues to examine water samples from different days and measuring points as well as fish.

The research into the causes is also difficult because there is still no information - also from the Polish side - on possible introductions or specific reasons for the environmental disaster, the ministry announced on Wednesday evening.

Ongoing investigations have so far yielded no clear evidence of a single cause for the fish die-off in the Oder, the ministry said.

Fish deaths in the Oder: Expert sees algae as a decisive factor

So far, analysis results have not shown particularly high values ​​for metals such as mercury.

The mercury content in the fish sampled is within the values ​​​​determined in recent years and remains below the corresponding EU standard, the ministry said.

The fact that so many theories are conceivable as the basis for the fish kill also makes it difficult to find a clear finding.

Another expert saw the massive increase in certain algae as a decisive factor on Thursday.

"For me, it is relatively plausible that this massive proliferation of algae has occurred - and in connection with this, the release of toxic substances produced by these algae is well documented," said Jörg Oehlmann, head of the Aquatic Ecotoxicology department the Goethe University Frankfurt, the dpa.

"We also know that these toxins can cause such fish kills even at very low concentrations." Whether these are ultimately blue-green algae or the toxic species of algae Prymnesium parvum recently identified in the Oder remains to be clarified, says Oehlmann.

According to Oehlmann, the phenomenon of mass algae growth is either due to the high temperatures and strong solar radiation or the man-made introduction of certain substances.

A dead lead lies in the shallow water of the German-Polish border river Oder in the early morning.

© Patrick Pleul/dpa-Bildfunk

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Research into the causes of the catastrophe by analyzing the substances in the Oder is now a real Sisyphean task, since around 350,000 substances could potentially be present in a water sample - and even detailed diagnostics never cover them all.

"It can take weeks before the substance behind it has actually been identified and can be named," said Oehlmann.

According to its own statements, the EU Commission is extremely concerned and on Thursday pushed for results in the investigations into fish deaths in the Oder.

"It is extremely important and urgent to determine the cause and take the appropriate measures downstream," said a spokesman for the Brussels authority.

"The sooner we can determine the cause of this ecological catastrophe, the sooner we can begin to assess the wider consequences for nature,

Fish deaths in the Oder: Skipper reported the disaster

The city of Frankfurt (Oder) asked the state to analyze the crisis management for the environmental disaster on the Oder.

For example, in the first few days, false hopes about earlier laboratory results on fish kills were fueled, city spokesman Uwe Meier told the German Press Agency on Thursday.

Instead, the city was reprimanded by the country for its own initiative to collect the many dead fish.

On Thursday evening, the Ministry of the Environment provided further information about the disclosure of the disaster in Brandenburg.

The State Office for the Environment did not receive "concrete indications of environmental pollution - as usual - via the official reporting channels, but via the Berlin-Brandenburg State Laboratory".

"A skipper had contacted the LLBB and reported on the fish kill.

The automatic measurement quality station in Frankfurt (Oder) has recorded a stronger increase in electrical conductivity since August 5, according to the ministry.

"From 7.8.

the curves for the parameters oxygen content and chlorophyll also increase.” These were not yet capable of interpretation on their own.

"In particular, with a view to the fact that the Oder is already under stress due to the weather and climate, they did not yet provide any more precise information, but continued to be observed."

Tourism businesses in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are increasingly feeling the effects of the massive fish kill in the Oder.

"The high season ended abruptly," said Elke Schmidt from Campingpark Oderhaff near Grambin of the German Press Agency on Thursday.

According to the Seenland Oder-Spree tourism association, there are also fewer holidaymakers in regions in Brandenburg directly affected by the fish kill.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-19

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