Record Heat and Drought Devastate European Fisheries From Danube to Hungarian Plains

Small boats sit stranded on cracked earth in a withered side channel of the Danube River near Novi Sad, Serbia, where the water has retreated into a handful of shrinking ponds. Fish cluster in the shallows, trapped by extreme heat and drought.

“This is all we have—these two little ponds full of juvenile fish,” said fisherman Dušan Jovanović. He warned that water temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and critically low levels place the stock in mortal danger. “If they start to die, they will all die at once.”

Persistent drought and scorching temperatures have ravaged ecosystems and economies across Central and Eastern Europe this summer, affecting Slovenian lakes, Serbian river channels, and fish farms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Hungary. The aquaculture sector has suffered acutely, with damages estimated in the millions of euros, compounding losses from energy crises, crop failures, and disrupted river transport.

Caught off guard by the severity of the crisis, governments and industry leaders are now scrambling to develop resilience strategies against extreme weather events that scientists attribute to human-driven climate change.

Hungary’s national meteorological service reports that roughly 99% of the country’s territory faces severe or extreme drought, with desertification threatening vast swathes of the Great Hungarian Plain. The impact on the nation’s approximately 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) of fish ponds has been catastrophic. The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed last week that persistent heat and water shortages have dried out 1,588 hectares (3,924 acres) across 20 farms, killing nearly 280 metric tons of fish. Revenue losses are estimated at 1.3 billion forints ($4.2 million), and producers warn that restocking could take years. In a desperate bid for survival, some operators have drained marginal ponds to divert water to primary stocks, according to the Hungarian Aquaculture and Fisheries Inter-branch Organization.

In Romania, carp farmers are reeling from a third consecutive year of crisis. “The production cycle for carp is three or four years,” explained Cătălin Platon, president of the ROMFISH National Association of Fish Producers. “So what we lost in 2023 has had an impact every year since.” He criticized water management policies that prioritized agricultural irrigation during previous droughts, leaving aquaculture operations dry.

Czech fish farmers have implemented emergency measures, including reducing feed to lower oxygen demand, aerating ponds, and draining where necessary. While sustained rainfall could alleviate immediate pressure, the Czech Fishing Association stresses that long-term landscape water retention strategies are essential. Jan Sokolík, a technician at the Rybařství Třeboň fishery, noted that marginal ponds have already been harvested early. “Now we’re just starting to plan what to do with the big ponds,” he said.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, trout farmer Veljko Budjen near Trebinje faces a physiological limit: trout require cold, oxygen-rich water. “During the summer you are forced to reduce trout production and feeding so the business can just barely survive,” he said. Options are limited to injecting liquid oxygen or waiting for rain.

Emergency crews in Slovenia have pumped 8 million liters (2 million gallons) of water into Lake Pristava to prevent mass suffocation caused by plummeting oxygen levels and an overgrowth of water chestnut covering the surface. “We are surprised that any fish has survived at all,” said Danijel Fraš of the Pesnica Lenart Fishing Association.

Back in Novi Sad, Jovanović insists the only solution for the stranded Danube fish is relocation. “The temperatures this year are extreme,” he said. “No one can remember anything like this.”

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