Workers on the banks of the Oder River, which runs along the Polish-German border, have recovered more than 190 tons of dead fish, according to officials’ estimates, and after a week and a half of monitoring the mass death of the fish.
On the Polish bank of the river, the Polish fire brigade has recovered 158 tons of dead fish from the river and a smaller river so far, a spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman added that the largest share was recovered from the “Oder”, noting that dead fish were also found in the smaller “Ner” river, which is not connected to the “Oder” river.
According to previous estimates from the Ministry of Regional Environment in the German state of Brandenburg, at least 36 tons of dead fish have been recovered in the Oder River in Germany so far.
And the authorities on both sides of the Oder are trying to find the reason behind the mass death of fish, and they assume the possibility of several reasons.
Scientists suspect that the rapid growth of a certain type of algae may have played a role in the fish’s death. On Friday, Polish Environment Minister Anna Moskva announced an intensive investigation into the cause of the rapid spread of these microorganisms in the Oder River.
And a German laboratory discovered excessive levels of pesticides in the water. Samples taken from the Frankfurt monitoring station on the Oder River, about 100 km east of the German capital Berlin, between August 7 and 9, showed high concentrations of an insecticide containing the active ingredient, dichlorophenoxyacetic, she announced. The Ministry of Regional Environment in the state of Brandenburg today, Saturday.
However, it can be assumed that the detected dose was not the direct cause of the mass mortality of the fish, since the active ingredient is used as a weed killer, for example.
According to the ministry, it is likely that the environmental disaster was caused by several causes.
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