- The high water temperatures in the Rhine have steadily increased the pressure on fish stocks in recent weeks.
- In the last few days, a few dead fish have washed ashore in the canton of Schaffhausen.
- However, large accumulations of dead grayling in the Rhine, as in the hot summer of 2018, are not to be expected.
Water temperatures of sometimes over 27 degrees are currently affecting grayling and trout in the Rhine in particular. As the canton of Schaffhausen writes in a statement, cold water basins provide some relief. Nevertheless, individual fish did not survive the heat wave.
This year, however, it should not be as dramatic as the situation in 2018. At that time there was a large fish kill in the Rhine. Five tons of fish, mainly grayling and trout, died. Only ten percent of the grayling population survived.
Since the grayling stock is now drastically smaller, large accumulations of dead fish should not be expected this year, the canton states. The dead fish are collected and disposed of by fishermen. The population is asked not to collect the animals themselves.