Dam built to catch dead fish flowing down River Odra says governor

Poland has put up a dam to catch all the dead fish that are flowing down from the Czech side of the River Odra, a local official has said.

The news was announced by the governor of the Silesian province, Jarosław Wieczorek, on Wednesday.

The ecological disaster is a grim reminder of similar events that took place on the Polish stretch of Odra last year, when tens of thousands of fish died.

Wieczorek told reporters that the decision had been taken after a crisis management team had been convened in Chałupki, a village which lies on Poland's border with the Czech Republic. He added that the Czechs had also put up a dam to stem the flow of fish.

The governor said that the first signal about dead fish flowing down from the Czech Republic side of the River Odra to the Polish side had been received by the state services before 11:00 a.m.

After receiving this information and sending out patrols to inspect the river, the Czech side was immediately informed of the event.

Wieczorek pointed out that about 100 people were involved in the operations, including 60 firefighters and six boats from the State Fire Service, Social Fisheries Guard and the Polish Water Authority.

He also said that he hoped that the Czech side would be able to provide the Polish side with information about what happened to the fish.

Thousands of fish died in Poland's second longest river, which forms a long stretch of the Polish-German border, between July and August 2022 in one of the worst ecological calamities to hit the country in recent years.

The disaster is believed to have been caused by golden algae, which can flourish in contaminated water that is warmed by hot weather.

The algae can produce toxins that kill fish and other river life.