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WEATHER

IN PICTURES: Switzerland’s fight to save its fish from the heatwave

With extensive mesures being taken across Swiss water bodies to save fish in the midst of the extreme heatwave, The Local spoke to the Swiss Fishing Federation to find out how serious the situation is and what is being done to safeguard fish species.

Published: 8 August 2018 13:03 CEST
IN PICTURES: Switzerland's fight to save its fish from the heatwave
Dead fish in the Rhine. Photo: Samuel Gründler/Fischereiverein Schaffhausen.

“We are extremely worried,” Philipp Sicher, head of the Swiss Fishing Federation (FSP), said in a statement late last month about the plight of fish in the current heatwave. “Indicators show that tragedy is near,” added Sicher.  

The same warning noted that when water temperatures reach between 23 and 25 degrees Celsius, the situation becomes “critical” for fish. Last weekend the temperature in parts of the Rhine river reached 27.6 degrees. 

“All waters are affected by the heatwave,” Eva Baier, water protection expert at the Swiss Fishing Federation, told The Local. “In the canton of Zurich alone, we've had to fish out and relocate the animals from 150 creeks across several hundred kilometres of watercourses,” added Baier. 

A tonne of fish have already died in the Rhine in the canton of Schaffhausen alone, according to officials. In the canton of Thurgau, farmers there face a ban on pumping surface water as of the end of last month.

Baier and her team use several techniques to attempt to safeguard fish species vulnerable to the rise in water temperatures. 

“In smaller waters, the animals are fished out using electric-fanned equipment and moved into surrounding cooler waters or, in emergency cases, to fish farms,” says Baier. 
 
This involves using nets with electric charge, to which the fish are attracted, according to a piece in Swiss news portal Tagezanzeiger. This technique causes fish substantial stress, however, and is only used in extreme cases. 
 
A preferred option is to cool the temperature of the water artificially. “In some stretches the water is aired so that enough oxygen is present,” Baier told The Local. 
 
Electric fans are used to cool the temperature of the water in some rivers. Photo: Samuel Gründler/Fischereiverein Schaffhausen.
 
The fans generate oxygen and cool the water's temperature. Photo: Samuel Gründler/Fischereiverein Schaffhausen.
 
“In other cases, cool water zones are created in which cooler streams are dredged and groundwater springs are placed under protection,” adds Baier. 
 
Salmonids such as trout and grayling suffer the most under such intense heat, explains Baier. 
 
A dead grayling on the floor of the Rhine Valley inland canal. Photo: SFV-FSP, Rainer Kühnis.
 
In many of Switzerland's water bodies, fish are fighting for their survival. Patrick Vogel Fotografie.
 
The Swiss Fishing Federation's rescue efforts in the face of one of the hottest and driest summers on record in Switzerland face several challenges. “The larger rivers, which have little shading, are essentially straight and have few protective structures – such as deadwood accumulations which act as safe havens for fish – make it hard to give the fish relief,” Baier told The Local.
 
 
 
The numbers speak for themselves. “On the Rhine between Lake Constance and Schaffhausen the situation inthe warm waters of Lake Constance is particularly precarious. There has been more than one tonne of dead fish removed, especially grayling,” says Baier. 
 
Dead fish in the Rhine. Photo: Patrick Vogel Fotografie.
 
A sign asks people not to swim in a cooler area of the Rhine where fish seek safety. Photo: SFV-FSP.
 
While the current heatwave is largely responsible for the plight of fish, human activity has contributed to the warming waters and the stress for several species. 
 
“Swiss waters are under very high pressure in terms of usage,” Baier told The Local. “The water is used for energy production, for irrigation, as drinking water, for leisure activities (swimming, sailing, fishing, excursion boats), as cooling water and for sanitation. All these activities taken together – including the warming effect caused by human-induced climate change – put the fish under enormous pressure,” added the expert. 
 
In many areas of the Upper Rhine Valley, safety zones have been created and swimming and sailing temporarily forbidden. 
 
A fish safety zone in the municipality of Diessenhofen, in the canton of Thurgau, northeast Switzerland. Photo: Samuel Gründler / Fischereiverein Schaffhausen.
 
Switzerland's nuclear power plants are also contributing to the fish's existential crisis. “All installations that use rivers for cooling and then return water to the watercourse contribute to the warming. Nuclear power plants have a significant impact in that respect,” says Baier. 
 
The Muhleberg Nuclear Power Plant near the Swiss capital Bern has been forced to reduce its energy production to protect flora and fauna in the Aar river, which the plant's cooling system uses. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP. 
 
Despite the best efforts to curtail human activity in some of the most vulnerable bodies of water, the relocation and fanning efforts and the creation of cool water basin safety zones, in many areas nature, or man-made disaster, has simply taken its course.
 
“Several smaller water bodies are almost or completely dried up,” Baier told The Local. At this stage it isn't possible to calculate the total number of fish that have died, she added. 
 
Approximately 70 species of fish live in Switzerland's water bodies, of which 54 are indigenous, according to fishfinder.ch. 
 
A petition by the Swiss Fishing Federation, Aqua Viva and the WWF aims to lobby the government to implement “structural measures at power plants, so that fish can safely migrate upstream and downstream.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

WEATHER

IN PICTURES: ‘Exceptional’ Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

An "exceptional" dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent's climate monitor said on Monday, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime.

Published: 8 April 2024 14:15 CEST
IN PICTURES: 'Exceptional' Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said the latest plume, the third of its kind in recent weeks, was bringing hazy conditions to southern Europe and would sweep northward as far as Scandinavia.

Mark Parrington, senior scientist at Copernicus, said the latest event was related to a weather pattern that has brought warmer weather to parts of Europe in recent days.

“While it is not unusual for Saharan dust plumes to reach Europe, there has been an increase in the intensity and frequency of such episodes in recent years, which could be potentially attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns,” he said.

This latest episode has caused air quality to deteriorate in several countries, Copernicus said.

The European Union’s safe threshold for concentrations of PM10 — coarser particles like sand and dust that that can irritate the nose and throat — has already been exceeded in some locations.

A picture taken on April 8, 2024 shows a rapeseed field under thick sand dust blown in from the Sahara, giving the sky a yellowish appearance near Daillens, western Switzerland. – An “exceptional” dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent’s climate monitor said, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The worst affected was the Iberian Peninsula in Spain but lesser air pollution spikes were also recorded in parts of Switzerland, France and Germany.

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Local authorities in southeastern and southern France announced that the air pollution threshold was breached on Saturday.

They advised residents to avoid intense physical activity, particularly those with heart or respiratory problems.

The dust outbreak was expected to reach Sweden, Finland and northwest Russia before ending on Tuesday with a shift in weather patterns, Copernicus said.

The Sahara emits between 60 and 200 million tonnes of fine dust every year, which can travel thousands of kilometres (miles), carried by winds and certain meteorological conditions.

The Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa saw just 12 days within a 90-day period from December to February where skies were free of Saharan dust, the local weather agency Aemet had reported.

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