Greek city of Volos faces public health crisis as 160 tonnes of dead fish removed from waters

More than 160 tonnes of dead fish have been collected from the water so far

Greek authorities are racing to remove a thick carpet of dead fish from waters in and around the port city of Volos in the central region of Thessaly - an apparent after-effect of last year’s catastrophic flooding.

The fish kill has created an overwhelming stench in the city of about 85,000, its regional chamber of commerce and industry said on Saturday, while calling for pandemic-style measures to support businesses affected during tourist season.

Volos’ pleasant waterfront had turned into an eyesore and residents were concerned about the public health risk, the chamber said. More than 160 tonnes of fish have been collected from the water, according to state broadcaster ERT.

The flow of dead fish began this week and steadily intensified in volume, according to the Volos Port Organisation. The group said it has mobilised five clean-up crews and installed a net at the mouth of a stream that was carrying the dead fish into the Pagasetic Gulf.

Dimitris Kouretas, the Governor of Thessaly, said that the fish were passing into the gulf from Lake Karla, a wetland ecosystem north of Volos, where waters are receding after flooding last year. The freshwater fish were killed by the increased salinity in the water as they neared the ocean, he said.

The fish passed through a floodgate between Lake Karla and the gulf that had been open because a pumping station required repairs, he said. Greece’s Supreme Court prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the open floodgate, local media reported. A month-long state of emergency was this week put in place for the region.

Lake Karla – which was drained in the 1960s and restored in 2018 – significantly increased in size after major flooding in Thessaly last September during Storm Daniel.

The floods killed at least 17 people in Greece and devastated farmland, roads, buildings and other infrastructure, inundating about 1150sq km, mostly in the Thessalian plain, a breadbasket for the country.

Works to repair the region from the storm’s devastation are ongoing, Volos Mayor Achilleas Beos said last month. More than US$46 million ($73m) has been allocated to rehabilitation and flood protection projects there, Christos Triantopoulos, the deputy minister for the climate crisis, said.

Greece has been hit by repeated disasters in recent years. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said last September that the country was “fighting a war in peacetime” against climate change, according to a CNN translation.

Storm Daniel devastated the country’s centre at almost the same time as Europe’s largest wildfire on record killed at least 21 people in its northeast. This month, wildfires with 25m flames near Athens killed at least one.