A large number of dead fish clog Greek ports, and tourist destination enters a state of emergency

Recently, affected by extreme weather, the rivers and surrounding sea areas of the port city of Volos in central Greece have been clogged with a large number of dead fish. The Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy announced on August 31 that the city has entered a one-month state of emergency and will allocate funds and resources to help the local area clean up the dead fish.

Volos is a three and a half hour drive from the Greek capital Athens and is a traditional tourist resort. However, starting from August 25, a large number of dead fish suddenly appeared in the local rivers and surrounding sea areas. The local government had to rent trawlers and excavators to salvage the dead fish and burn them for disposal. On August 27 alone, 57 tons of dead fish were salvaged in the port of Volos and surrounding areas; by August 31, more than 100 tons of dead fish had been salvaged. Currently, two ships are still carrying out salvage work, and the cleanup has entered the final stage.

According to expert ***ysis, last autumn, storms "Daniel" and "Elias" successively swept through the Thessaly region in central Greece, causing floods in an area of more than 200 square kilometers. Freshwater fish in a small lake began to breed in the entire flooded area. But the subsequent months of drought caused the flood water level to gradually drop. These freshwater fish continued to be carried to the vicinity of Volos through waterways but died in large numbers because they could not survive in highly saline seawater. And the rotting dead fish may pose an environmental disaster to other local species, especially dolphins and sea turtles in the sea.

Affected by the dead fish incident, almost all business activities in Volos have come to a standstill. According to local tourism operators, the number of tourists visiting has decreased by nearly 80% since the flood last year. The local restaurant owner said that restaurant revenue has dropped by 80% year-on-year, and staff has also been greatly reduced. The mayor of Volos accused the Greek central government of not setting up protective nets at the river mouths to prevent freshwater fish from entering the seaport, believing that this ecological and economic disaster could have been avoided.

This incident of a large number of dead fish clogging the port has dealt a heavy blow to Volos, a tourist destination. It has also triggered people's attention and thinking about environmental issues and the government's response measures. The subsequent cleanup work and how to restore the local ecology and economy will be important challenges.