Polish waters in increasingly worse condition. Beata Olejarz, president of PZW, on the scale of the problem

Polish waters are no longer just losing their quality. They are also increasingly losing their former character: rivers with grayling, streams with trout, lively oxbow lakes and lakes that did not suffer from oxygen deficiency in summer are increasingly a thing of the past. Anglers are observing the changes taking place up close, and are sounding the alarm that the degradation of small watercourses, intensifying climatic pressures, pollution and successive ecological disasters today make up one of Poland’s most serious water environment crises. Beata Olejarz, president of the Polish Angling Association, talks about how rivers and lakes are changing.

Agnieszka Hobot: Anglers are one of the largest groups using water resources in Poland. From the perspective of the Polish Angling Association, how has the condition of rivers and lakes changed in recent years, and what processes in the aquatic environment are of most concern today?

Beata Olejarz: The condition of water in Poland varies, but in my opinion it is generally and systematically deteriorating. This is due to a number of factors, but perhaps the most significant at the moment are climate change, which causes water levels to drop, and pollution. Anyway, these factors work synergistically. Very often the increase in the concentration of pollutants is due to the smaller volume of water in which they dissolve. Added to this is eutrophication, especially of lakes and dammed reservoirs. We as anglers are observing changes in fish assemblages. Noble species in particular are becoming less and less numerous. In streams or rivers, once full of trout or grayling, now live almost exclusively small chub. Very rarely does burbot appear in the records of angling catches we keep. River species, such as barbel or mumps, also have a much smaller share. The situation is similar in the lakes or dam reservoirs that we use. We can see very unfavorable changes in both fish assemblages and the state of the environment, for example, summer suffocations are becoming more frequent even in large reservoirs. There are also ecological disasters, such as those that have affected the Oder River or, more recently, the Wkra River. For us, such phenomena are not just fish die-offs, but very often nullify the effects of years of work put into restoring populations of disappearing species, as happened on the Oder or the Wkra.

Looking globally, we are probably most concerned about climate change, because we don’t really know what it will do to fish. We very realistically reckon with the possibility that some sensitive species, despite the efforts put into maintaining them, will disappear from our waters, especially in regions particularly affected by the anomalies. I have already mentioned the replacement of trout and grayling by chub in many waters, but there are other negative phenomena, such as epidemics of diseases that Polish fish have not previously contracted. That’s why our greatest concern is the progressive climate change – it brings with it unpredictable long-term effects on fisheries.

A.H.: Small rivers, oxbow lakes and small watercourses often disappear from public debate, although they serve an important function for biodiversity and landscape retention. Do anglers observe the progressive degradation of these ecosystems and what effects does this have on fish populations and other aquatic organisms?

B.O.: We have been observing this situation for a long time and alerting the authorities about it. At the moment, we are even a partner of SGGW in the IRENE project, which aims to determine the scale of the occurrence of the phenomenon of drying up of rivers and streams in Poland. For anglers, this phenomenon is particularly dangerous, since small watercourses or reservoirs often play a key role in fish reproduction. Their disappearance therefore causes a decline in the natural recruitment of species that are valuable from the angling point of view, such as brook trout, pike, mumps, barbel and burbot. We are very concerned about this situation, because in a straight line it leads to a decline in the angling attractiveness of the waters. In addition, in order to preserve the populations of valuable fish species, we need to incur greater expenditures on stocking. This entails measurable economic costs, which are paid for by individual anglers, since it is from their contributions that these activities are financed.

A.H.: Inland waters are not only habitats for fish. From the perspective of anglers’ field observations, how are changes in entire assemblages of water-related species – birds, amphibians or invertebrates? Are there phenomena that have particularly surprised the angling community in recent years?

B.O.: These unfavorable changes are probably best noticed by older anglers. In conversations with them, I often hear that the fishery they have been frequenting for years has changed a lot, that they no longer hear the voices of the birds that accompanied them fishing as children. They also point out that there are fewer and fewer amphibians. Thousands of individuals used to come to the reservoirs for mating. Now single or none appear.

But anglers are also seeing other changes in their waters. Changes resulting not from attrition, but from excess. Here, the flagship example is the black cormorant, which began wintering in Poland in the first decade of the 21st century, with a steadily growing population of about 59,000 individuals in 2024, according to GIOŚ data. This is a very big problem for the rivers we use, especially in conjunction with pollution and low water levels in winter. After this winter, it is likely that in many rivers cormorants have caused a critical reduction in fish populations.

A.H.: Anglers are increasingly being talked about as potential guardians of rivers. To what extent can the angling community realistically support water conservation – through monitoring, reporting threats or restoration efforts?

B.O.: We were the Guardians of the Waters long before the concept was conceived. Already in the early 1980s. Angler News published lists of polluters, which, given the system at the time, was an act of courage. Besides, anglers have always been active in water conservation. Today, most (if not all) of the members of the Social Fishing Guard are anglers. Before the SSR was established, they were the most numerous group among the Nature Wardens, working within the LOP structures. Without their social commitment to water protection, for example, it would not have been possible to control the wave of poaching that broke out in the 1980s. i 90. Last century, during the period of political transition. Even today, their role in water protection is huge, as they are constantly present at the waterfront and see the most. We don’t keep statistics, but it’s likely that most of the pollution signals to the WIOŚ come from us. What happens next with these signals is another matter, and in fact they don’t. As you probably know, a significant portion of our environmental alerts go unheeded. Nowadays, most PZW districts have the basic equipment necessary to assess water parameters, such as oxygen content, pH and conductivity, which makes it possible to determine the effect of pollution very quickly. In my opinion, social monitoring of waters without the participation of anglers is doomed to failure in advance.

A.H.: Fishing is sometimes seen as a form of recreation, but many anglers speak of a deep need to be by the water. In your experience, how does contact with a river or lake affect the way you view nature and build environmental responsibility?

B.O.: It certainly changes the point of view of people who practice fishing and sensitizes them to the beauty of nature. Unfortunately, in such a large collective as the PZW there are also people with low sensitivity to the world. However, they constitute a small percentage. According to the surveys we conducted, most anglers treat contact with nature as one of the primary benefits associated with angling. Which in itself builds responsibility for the environment and nature. Many anglers, especially younger ones, participate in actions to clean up the shores of lakes and rivers or undertake restoration activities in consultation with relevant state institutions.

We, however, do not leave these issues alone. We conduct very extensive educational activities among anglers, especially children and young people, trying to shape their future attitudes in such a way that they pursue their hobby responsibly, in “harmony with nature.” It seems to me that combining environmental education with the hobby is the best way to instill in the young a respect for the surrounding nature. Especially since more and more children and young people are interested in fishing. The current number of so-called participant members, that is, members of the Association under the age of 16, is about 70,000. So we have someone to “infect” with love of nature. We also carry out educational activities among the elderly, of course. Currently, we have sailed into wider waters and are implementing the Fish and Their Home project in elementary schools, aimed at familiarizing children with what’s in the water. This grassroots work is already bringing the first results. This can be seen, for example, in the fact that anglers themselves are initiating restrictions on fishing in order to protect fish, which is later reflected in the regulations of fishing grounds.

A.H.: As the first woman to head the Polish Angling Association, you are heading an organization with hundreds of thousands of members and working directly in the field. Does such close-to-nature management of the structure change the way you look at fisheries management and water protection in Poland?

B.O.: Certainly yes, although I had already formed an approach to certain issues while actively participating in the activities of the Association, and it has remained unchanged to this day. Besides, I try to implement many of my earlier observations, experiences and ideas, taking advantage of current opportunities. Having at my disposal data from all PZW districts, I can clearly see the scale and scope of the changes that are taking place in the waters and what measures the Association is carrying out to prevent them. As far as fisheries management is concerned, I treat it as a way of limiting unfavorable changes in ichthyofauna, whether by acquiring spawners for the production of stocking material, or shaping the proper structure of the fish assemblage, for example, in highly iutrophic reservoirs. As an Association, we are moving more and more away from classic fishing, aimed at harvesting fish only. Not only because of the views of anglers, but also environmental factors. There are, of course, a few places where fishing management is still carried out, but this is due to the provisions of fishing operations, which stipulate that commercial harvesting must be carried out in these places. Where there is no such need, fishing is not carried out.

I think the most noticeable change in my way of looking at this issue since I have been President of the Association is the recognition of the role of economic treatments as tools to promote the protection of fish assemblages from degradation and their rational use only where necessary.