Angler Mark Kouwenhoven grins as he wades into the remains of a dried-up Dutch lake, where his colleagues toss slime-coated fish into buckets.
It’s not the kind of catch they’re used to – but that’s because this time they’re helping the government save the fish from the drought sweeping Europe.
Each fish is brought near the IJssel, a Dutch tributary of the drought-stricken Rhine that until recently fed the lake with fresh water.
“It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it,” says 32-year-old Kouwenhoven, a member of the East Netherlands Sport Fishermen’s Association.
“We are fishermen, we take care of the fish, we don’t want them to die. We love fish!” he adds, clad in long, waterproof waders.
The Netherlands is known as the ‘land of water’, where canals and dikes protect against rising seas, but the country officially declared a water shortage earlier this month.
A major factor in the drought was the low water level of the Rhine.
Europe’s mighty river rises in Switzerland and flows through several countries, including France and Germany, before emptying into the sea in a vast delta in the Netherlands.
– ‘Big Net’ –
On the Dutch tributaries of the Rhine such as the Waal, the Nederrijn and the IJssel, dry, parched banks are now exposed to the air.
The water in the small lake near the town of Giesbeek used to be about a meter higher, fish swam in from a canal of the IJssel, but now it’s dropped to about 10 centimeters, anglers say.
A beaver that used to live there has left its dam.
Volunteers from a number of fishing clubs have now carried out several missions to help the stranded fish, working together with the Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Ministry of Water Management.
“We use a big net, we put it through the pond, through the lake and we roll it up using the volunteers to collect all the fish in a small space. From there we can put them in baskets and we’ll take them to the river,” says Kouwenhoven.
A shirtless angler sits waist-deep in the mud to hold one end of the huge, weighted net while his colleagues spread it out across the water’s surface.
At the end of the process, teams of fishermen pluck out huge carp, bream and pike from a wild, thrashing puddle while mud flies in all directions.
The baskets are then removed about 50 meters (164 feet) and released into the IJssel.
The fishing clubs have occasionally been called in for help over the last five dry years, but Kouwenhoven said “this year is exceptional. We’ve never had so many cases before.”
– “Terrible for wildlife” –
Rijkswaterstaat official Geert Wieggers, who inspects the operation from the bank, says he is “surprised” by the size of the catch, which he estimated at around 2,000 kilos.
The 65-year-old described the water situation in the eastern Netherlands as “critical”.
“It’s terrible for wildlife,” he says. “Not just for the fish, but for the birds and everything. You need water, you need water, water.”
A year ago, dramatic floods in the same area left a trail of devastation in the Netherlands “and now we don’t have enough water”.
Despite a short downpour before the fish rescue expedition, it has hardly rained in the Netherlands for months.
“We’re praying for rain and we’re doing what we can,” he said.
And while the headlines about the low water levels of the Rhine have focused on disruptions to river traffic in Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany, the Dutch point out that they too are suffering.
Because of the low water, barges on the Rhine can only take around 25 to 30 percent of their normal cargo, says Wieggers.
“All the water goes to the Netherlands, so if there’s a drought upstream, you can wait here too,” adds angler Kouwenhoven.
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