Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Sebastien Salom-Gomis/Sipa/Shutterstock.
A branch of the Loire in Loireauxence in western France. 

We all know how humans suffer in extreme heat and what happens to our towns and dwellings when heat waves lead to fires. In France, where heat broke records this summer, there’s is understandably a focus on helping people, livestock, and pets.

But a small group of fisherman is intent on rescuing fish in the country’s dried-up rivers. Fish matter, too.

Kim Willsher wrote at the Guardian July 25, “Along the Odet River in Brittany, fisher Mathieu Le Bouter and a dozen volunteers are catching hundreds of trout and young salmon – not for sport but to save them.

“They are only a few miles from the source of the river, which springs from the Black Mountains in Finistère and runs for about 40 miles (65km) into the Atlantic Ocean, but the water is barely up to their knees.

“ ‘The situation is catastrophic, far worse than we thought,’ said Le Bouter, of the Finistère fishing federation. Once they catch the fish, he and his team transfer them to tanks of oxygenated water then release them 10 or 12 miles downstream where the rivers are joined by tributaries, raising the water level. …

“ ‘What’s really scaring us is that the 10-day forecast suggests there won’t be any rain, and temperatures will generally be high. The fish, particularly trout and young salmon, need water with a current and oxygen, so these conditions become lethal for them.’ …

“The Loire, France’s longest river, is at a historical low, with the flow of some branches, including through the city of Orléans, reduced to a trickle between sandbanks. Two weeks ago, 16% of French rivers were reported to have dried up. A quarter of small streams were stagnant or had disappeared altogether, according to the national low water observatory. There has been little rain since. …

“The Seine, which divides Paris and supplies drinking water to the city, is now ‘on life support,’ declared Le Monde, with half of the river’s flow being drawn from reservoir lakes upstream and its tributaries in Champagne and Burgundy, a measure that would not normally be needed for another month. In Vernon, Normandy, the flow of the Seine has dropped from an average of 200 cubic metres [~ 7,000 cubic feet] per second in July last year to 110. …

“In France, 99 out of the country’s 101 departments are under water restrictions, and a state of emergency has been declared in 58 of them. In a statement, the ministry for ecological transition said almost a third of river monitoring stations had recorded the lowest levels in 20 years and a quarter of smaller waterways had dried up. It noted a rise ‘in the death of fish linked to the rise in water temperature.’ …

“An emergency agriculture bill … which facilitates the construction of water storage tanks for crop irrigation and livestock farms, has raised concerns over the equitable sharing of water resources and fears that farmers are being prioritized.

“Claude Roustan, the president of the national fishing federation, said rivers were suffering not just from the drought and climate change but ‘excessive extraction’ of water to irrigate scorched crops. …

“The agriculture bill, he added, ran counter to conservation efforts. …

“The drop in river levels causes a rise in water temperature, which kills the aquatic vegetation. Other plants grow back, particularly filamentous algae, further reducing oxygen levels for the fish. …

“Le Bouter says he and his volunteers will keep wading through the Odet and Isole for as long as necessary.

“ ‘We seem to be the only ones who are concerned about the fish. Unlike birds, deer and foxes, which are more visible, they tend to get forgotten.’ “

More at the Guardian, here.