The Brandenburg state government is examining whether fishing companies can receive compensation for the environmental disaster on the Oder. “We are already in the process of finding out and the corresponding funds would also be available (…), provided that it is legally correct,” said Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) in the Environment Committee of the state parliament in Potsdam.
The damage caused is currently being raised among the fishermen. Consumer Protection Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) had previously said in the Consumer Protection Committee that no legal right to compensation could be derived from European food law.
The state government is aware that the livelihood of the fishermen is at risk and will talk to those affected and explore solutions, said Nonnemacher. Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) announced this. She has no knowledge of the extent of the economic damage.
The scientific director of the Institute for Inland Fisheries, Uwe Brämick, had described the losses of the fisheries on the Oder as drastic. “We assume that it will take two to four years before the potential of the stocks has developed again as it was before this development,” said Brämick.
According to him, around 50 to 60 tons of fish are normally caught in the Oder by the 12 fishing companies, which earn 80 percent of their income from this. Anglers take just as many tons out of the river every year.
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As long as it has not been clarified what led to the death of fish in the Oder, no permission for fishing in the river can be granted, emphasized Nonnemacher. Further scientific studies would have to be awaited for this.
