Traunsee trouble

Construction site dirt made nets visible to fish

The whitefish is the bread-and-butter fish of the Traunsee fishermen, whose nets often remain empty(Bild: ÖBF/Harald Ficker)

In Lake Traunsee, climate change is tormenting the finfish and making it increasingly difficult for them in the ever warmer water. This year there were even fewer catches because dirt helped the fish. Water quality control has been ordered. 

If it is foggy, people have problems seeing obstacles in time. If the visibility in the lake is cloudy, nets suddenly become visible to fish - and they don't swim in!

Less oxygen, more suspended matter
This year, the Traunsee fishermen had to take painful note of this phenomenon. Their nets remained increasingly empty. One reason for this is that climate change - the cold lake is getting warmer and less oxygen-rich - means that fewer finfish are on the move anyway. The population has halved over the past decade. On the other hand, the few fish - the "bread and butter" fish is the whitefish - are making big bows around the nets.

Protection system was too small
A water ecologist from the province of Upper Austria got to the bottom of the mystery and was able to prove a reported turbidity in the water and determine its origin: the pumped storage construction site of Energie AG in Ebensee. The water protection plant, which is supposed to clean the polluted construction site wastewater, was too small and is also said to have been poorly maintained. This caused the turbidity in the lake, but did not cause any fish to die.

State Councillor for the Environment Stefan Kaineder (Greens) now wants to carry out a local inspection with the fishing rights holders and further checks have been ordered.