High temperatures and low water levels cause fish mortality in Lake Skadar, experts are monitoring the situation

Hundreds of fish died in Lake Skadar this summer, and the Skadar Lake National Park explains that high temperatures, low water levels, and reduced oxygen levels in the water led to the deaths.

National Park Director Marijana Živaljević Roganović said in Colors of Morning that this is a natural process that repeats itself on the lake almost every summer, especially when it comes to grasshoppers, or mullets, that migrate from the sea.

Due to high temperatures and shallow water, fish have difficulty adapting to the conditions and suffer from a lack of oxygen.

She stated that the water condition is regularly monitored in cooperation with the Faculty of Science and the Hydrometeorological Institute, and that the data so far does not indicate an alarming situation.

Živaljević Roganović warned, however, of problems with poaching, waste and a lack of supervision staff.

"We know that there is commercial fishing here, we know that a large number of residents live on the territory of the lake, that some families still live from that commercial fishing and so on, however, they are not the problem, believe me, the problem is the people who do it illegally, who use illegal means. In the summer, it may even happen the least, because tourism is the current thing. It's more about winter, spring, the problems are more pronounced then.