About 300 tonnes of dead fish were extracted from the Oder, the river separating Germany and Poland, victim this summer of an environmental disaster which could be linked to a toxic mini-algae, the German government said on Thursday August 25.
A previous toll was around 100 tons.
It has now reached 300 tonnes, according to German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, quoted by The Pioneer news portal.
"The Oder is currently the scene of an environmental disaster which will damage this precious ecosystem for a long time," the environmental minister lamented to this media.
Of these 300 tonnes, approximately 100 tonnes were taken from the German side, in the Brandenburg region.
Dead fish are incinerated in specialized factories.
Read alsoOder pollution: a possible toxic algae causes the death of thousands of fish
The precise causes of these mass disappearances remain to be determined, recalled the minister.
The authorities believe that a toxic micro-algae, "prymnesium parvum", could be the cause of the disaster.
The incriminated micro-algae, also called "golden algae", is common in estuaries and normally develops in brackish waters with a lower salt content than the sea. If it could have proliferated to this extent in the fresh waters of the 'Oder, this indicates an abnormal salinity of the river, which could have industrial causes.
The disaster somewhat strained relations between Berlin and Warsaw.
Germany has thus accused Poland of having delayed informing it of the extent of the pollution.
The first reports of mass fish kills in the Oder came from Polish locals and anglers as early as July 28.
In recent years, the Oder was known to be a relatively clean river, with around 40 species of fish living there.
Both sides suspected early on that chemicals played a role.
The Polish Minister of the Environment, Anna Moskwa, however, later clarified that “none of the samples tested so far” had “shown toxic substances”.
