While rafting down the Noteć, he noticed thousands of dead fish. He notified officials about the matter. Water samples were taken for testing.
Mr. Mariusz, the author of the recordings he shared online, informed us about the case. As he pointed out, he noticed several thousand dead fish, mostly small ones, during a trip down the Noteć, on a section of about five kilometers, between the lakes Mielno and Sadłogoszcz, near Barcin.
Thousands of dead fish float for about 5 kilometersMariusz Cholewski
– It's not that the big fish are resistant and it didn't kill them, because they're simply not here. There are only small fish here – explained Mariusz Cholewski.
He said that he also notified the relevant institutions about the case, including the City Hall in Barcin.
– Yesterday, the local office received one report from a person using the Noteć river channel (…). It was immediately forwarded for appropriate actions to be taken, which are within the competence of the competent authorities supervising the state of flowing waters, including the State Water Management Authority Polish Waters RZGW, the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and the State Provincial Sanitary Inspectorate – Monika Lakota from the City Office informed us.
It's too early to judge
The receipt of the notification was also confirmed by the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Bydgoszcz, which has already taken samples for testing. – Activities in this case are ongoing, so at the moment there is no basis for judging the causes of the mentioned phenomenon – said Małgorzata Witkowska, Chief Specialist for Administrative Proceedings at WIOŚ Bydgoszcz.
Detecting the cause of the fish kill in the Noteć may not be so simple, however. According to the representative of Polish Waters, the narrow section of the river and the agricultural region could have played a role. – It is not a forest or neutral catchment area, but one that carries a lot of pollution that has been accumulating for years. Lake Sadłogoszcz, which we and the fishing user have identified as the matrix of these kills, has been a settling tank for activated sludge from the Noteć for years – explained Filip Pasterczuk, ichthyologist from the Department of Fishing District Management and Fisheries Management of Polish Waters.
Nearby mines were inspected this year, but the salinity level of the surrounding water reservoirs still exceeds the norm. – This is already an alarming level, although not one that would allow us to determine the threat of golden algae or salinity in general – Pasterczuk emphasized.
– If someone released salt again, the salt killed the fish. The fish swam out, the salt flowed, the water will be tested again and again there will be no culprit – fears Mariusz Cholewski.
Main image source: Mariusz Cholewski