In August 2022, a mass fish die-off was reported on the River Oder in Poland and Germany. Not only was it one of the biggest environmental disasters in a European river in recent history, it also affected tourism on the Polish side.
00:00This is the Oder River as it flows through the village of Szatpodolny in northwestern Poland.
00:06Two years after the mass fish die-off on the river in August 2022, the uncertainty here is still palpable.
00:13Because it wasn't just the environment that took a hit. The tourism sector too has been badly affected.
00:20Marcin Wrabinski runs a small kayak rental. He opened for business just a few months before the disaster struck.
00:28The traffic was such that I often ran out of equipment. I didn't have anything to eat because everything was on the water.
00:32And then there were days when everything was just floating around.
00:34The kayak was floating and people were waiting in line to take the kayak because they were going to the resort.
00:40All this changed when huge numbers of dead fish were sighted in the Oder in Szatpodolny.
00:45Since then, tourist numbers have remained less than half of what they were before the fish die-off.
00:51On the last Sunday of July this year, for example, Marcin Wrabinski did not rent out a single kayak.
01:22Szatpodolny is around 7 kilometres south of the city of Szczecin and 5 kilometres from the German border.
01:29It has always been an ideal destination for nature lovers, water sports enthusiasts and fans of cycling and fishing.
01:36Norbert Morawski is visiting the village with his sister. He vividly recalls what happened two years ago.
01:51You don't really know what's going on, you don't really know why the fish are dying.
01:56We are very upset with this river.
02:02Scientists estimate that over 300 tonnes of fish died in the Oder River in the summer of 2022.
02:09Most of the tourists who have come back are still afraid to go into the water.
02:16This German tourist also remembers the disaster.
02:22It was very bad to see the pictures and not to know where it comes from and what you can do about it.
02:31Experts say several factors were responsible.
02:34Increased salinity, which caused a toxic algal bloom, high temperatures, low water levels and elevated nutrient concentrations.
02:41DW travelled to Warsaw to meet hydrobiologist Alicja Pawelec-Oleszynska.
02:48Now we won't see a million dead fish because they are simply not there anymore.
02:53Two years ago, gold algae killed more than 50% of the population.
02:5650% of the population is still there, but they are still dying.
03:01They won't be spectacular anymore, but if gold algae blooms, they will still die.
03:06Dr Pawelec-Oleszynska points out that while the situation in the Oder is currently stable, there is no telling what the future will bring.
03:14All our Polish rivers are freshwater.
03:17However, the salinity of the Oder, caused by the activities of mines and industry,
03:22has caused the salinity of the freshwater to be almost the same as in the Baltic, and sometimes even the same as in the Baltic.
03:28Therefore, gold algae has perfect conditions to develop.
03:31In addition, there are biogens that flow from the fields, from fertilizers, high temperatures, low water levels and we have a prescription for a disaster.
03:38Poland could learn from the response to past environmental disasters on the River Rhine.
03:42DW travelled to Bonn, where the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine is based.
03:47In 1986, enormous amounts of water that had been used to fight a huge fire at the Sandos chemical plant near Basel in Switzerland,
03:55flowed into the Rhine, causing a mass fish die-off.
03:58As a reaction, the Rhine Action Plan was adopted with big plans to reintroduce biodiversity,
04:05but also a warning and alarm plan was issued.
04:10Within a year, all six countries through which the Rhine flows had taken steps to prevent this kind of disaster ever happening again.
04:17Poland's new centre-left government says it plans to set up a risk management system for toxic algal bloom,
04:22invest in mine water desalination and take other measures.
04:26Until then, locals will continue to hope that the tourists will return and enjoy the many natural assets the region has to offer.
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