The Association of Roxo Beneficiaries (ABR) has reported approximately 200 dead fish, mostly carp and pumpkinseed, in the reservoir in the Beja district. The removal of the fish began on Thursday, confirmed António Parreira, president of the organization.
“We became aware of this situation on Tuesday afternoon and have already started to remove the fish, which are located near the shore,” he added.
António Parreira noted that dead fish were found “in two locations, in an inlet near Mina da Juliana [in the Beja municipality] and near the dam wall [in the Aljustrel municipality], where the reservoir is actually deeper.”
The incident was reported by Ervidel resident Sónia Sacramento, who observed “a large quantity of dead fish, mostly pumpkinseed,” during a birdwatching excursion last Saturday.
Sónia Sacramento noted that other residents also discovered dead fish “in more than one place” in the reservoir, especially near the area of Mina da Juliana.
The president of ABR, headquartered in São João de Negrilhos (Aljustrel) and responsible for managing the dam, explained that the organization had “done what it needed to do,” by “reporting the occurrence to the authorities and is in the process of removing the fish.”
“We reported what was happening to SEPNA [the Portuguese Environment and Nature Protection Service] and ICNF [the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests]. There is nothing more we can do,” he stated.
António Parreira emphasized that it is “premature to suggest a potential cause” for the fish deaths, pointing out that this is up to “the competent authorities,” who have already “collected samples of the dead fish for analysis.”
“We have no idea of the causes,” but the amount of dead fish, for now, “is not significant because the reservoir has a very large fish population.”
He suggested that the deaths are unlikely due to pollution, as “the dead fish appeared in two distinct parts of the reservoir,” stressing that “it is up to the environmental agencies to do their work and investigate.”
António Parreira also informed that the reservoir currently holds “35 million cubic meters of water, corresponding to about 35% of its storage capacity,” which “is good” since the association “usually finishes irrigation campaigns with about 12 million cubic meters stored.”
“This means that even if it doesn’t rain in the coming months, we have enough water for another year of irrigation, which is not usually guaranteed at Roxo,” he added.
A source from the Beja Territorial Command of the GNR indicated that on Sunday, the authorities received an alert about “the appearance of dead species” on the reservoir’s surface, particularly on one of the shores near Mina da Juliana.
“SEPNA officers went to the site, not only that day to confirm the presence of dead fish but also this morning,” to prepare a service report, said the source, adding that the GNR contacted the Alentejo Regional Hydrographic Administration (ARH) “to collect the fish.”
According to the GNR, it is up to the ICNF and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) “to determine the causes [of the mortality] and investigate.”
An inquiry sent by email to the ARH of Alentejo/APA on the matter had not received a response by early evening.
Inaugurated in 1967, the Roxo dam supplies public water to the municipalities of Beja and Aljustrel, in addition to providing water for an agricultural irrigation perimeter covering over 8,500 hectares.
