Research into the causes of fish deaths in the Oder continues. Therefore, concern about the impact on the Szczecin Lagoon is growing. Water samples taken there showed “no abnormalities” and there were no dead fish there, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister now assures.
In view of the concerns about the effects of the devastating fish kill in the Oder on the Szczecin Lagoon, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister Till Backhaus from the SPD has given the all-clear for the time being. “There are no dead fish in the lagoon,” Backhaus told journalists in Ueckermünde. The evaluation of the water samples also showed “no abnormalities”. That’s “good news,” said Backhaus.
Samples of live fish from the lagoon are currently being examined, but the result is still pending. With a view to the concerns about tourism in the region, Backhaus said that the water in the Szczecin Lagoon is currently “not dangerous to people or animals”. The warning against bathing in the waters remains in place for the time being, also because there is still a ban on bathing in the Oder in Poland and in Brandenburg. Backhaus emphasized that samples would continue to be taken regularly. The Szczecin Lagoon, also known as the Oderhaff and Pomeranian Lagoon, is an inner coastal water in the confluence of the Oder and Peene rivers. The border between Poland and Germany runs through the lagoon. In front of the lagoon connected to the Baltic Sea are the islands of Usedom and Wolin.
The cause of the devastating fish kill in the Oder is still unclear. In Poland, the fish kill was first registered on July 28 in the region around Wroclaw. A few days later, dead fish were also observed in Germany for the first time – without previous warnings from Poland. In the meantime, tons of dead fish have also been recovered in the German part of the Oder. Backhaus said, citing information from Poland, that the dead fish front had reached the southern outskirts of Szczecin. This means that the wave of pollution is around 60 kilometers from the lagoon and around 80 kilometers from the Baltic Sea.
According to the Brandenburg Environment Ministry, the water samples examined in the Berlin-Brandenburg state laboratory have so far not given any indication of an organic or inorganic substance – not even mercury or other heavy metals – that could have triggered the massive fish kill. However, high levels of salt were found, which according to the experts could have favored the appearance of a species of algae that is poisonous to fish. In addition, very high oxygen concentrations were measured. According to the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment (LFU), the algal species Prymnesium parvum, which lives in brackish water, is suspected. “The proportion of algae of around ten percent in the algae mass could possibly explain high concentrations of the fish toxin prymnesin and thus the fish kill in the Oder,” reported the Ministry of the Environment in Potsdam.
The authorities do not assume a natural phenomenon, but a man-made problem caused by the discharge of salt loads. Green Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke announced aid for the companies affected by the fish kill in the Oder. In addition, the federal government will support the state of Brandenburg “in the ongoing analysis of the cause of damage,” she told the “Spiegel”. Results are expected from the Federal Institute for Hydrology by the end of August.
Lemke admitted that not everything went perfectly in dealing with the catastrophe. The German side was “obviously informed too late”. “The Polish side did not activate the alarm plan in time,” she emphasized. It is now a question of overcoming the tragedy together.
