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Fishermen report dead fish in Dniester River
Local fishermen have been warning of an increase of dead fish in the Dniester River. Near Dubossary, thousand of dead fish washed ashore for a four km stretch. Authorities have launched an investigation into possible ecological damage.
PMR President Igor Smirnov, above, likes to go fishing in the Dniester River. He will have less to catch this year (file photo)DUBOSSARY (Tiraspol Times) - A dramatic increase in dead fish has been reported near Dubossary, on the Dniester River. A line of four kilometres of dead fish have washed ashore near Dubossary, in Pridnestrovie, and government authorities are investigating the source.
The head of the PMR Department of Ecological Control from Dubossary, Vladimir Grigorenko, informed local press agency New Region that the reason for this phenomenon is not yet known. However, local experts in the ecological field are taking water samples and also examining the dead fish to establish cause.
The authorities speculate that large quantities of fish could have died on their way through the Dubossary Hydroelectric Station.
" - But we are also not ruling out that this could have been caused by purposeful actions by poachers," says Dubossary mayor Igor Mazur. Poaching, even with the illegal use of explosives, has in the past been undertaken by fishermen who sell the produce in towns and villages on the Moldovan side of the river where government control is lax and where the PMR government has no authority.
" - The loss of fish is complicated to estimate, but the quantity is enormous", said Mazur.
- Government steps in to protect fragile ecosystem
The Dniester River is a fragile ecosystem which is not being maintained properly. The river is silted and overgrown with algae, and its fish stock has decreased tenfold in the past decade.
To remedy the situation, government authorities from Pridnestrovie have recently participated in a Dniester river preservation project along with neighboring states. The Dniester River preservation project, launched under the auspices of the United Nations and the OSCE (Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe), ended in February 2007. PMR ecological organizations and Tiraspol university specialists also participated, with the common aim of safeguarding the river's environment.
Igor Smirnov, himself a fisherman, is worried about the increase in dead fish. The recently re-elected President of Pridnestrovie, is into recreational fishing (fishing for pleasure). He is a fly angler who practices catch and release fishing. Releasing fish allows them to survive, thus avoiding unintended depletion of the population. (With information from Deca News)
See also:
» Government warns swimmers of cholera virus in Dniester River
On the web:
» PMR Ministry of Environmental Protection
» Transboundary Dniester River preservation project
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