Thousands of fish appear dead in lagoon in Rio’s Barra da Tijuca

Many fish, mainly savannas, appeared floating today (Jan. 13) in the Marapendi Lagoon and the Canal das Taxas, in Barra da Tijuca, the west zone of Rio.

The lagoon is part of the Jacarepaguá Lagoon System, which daily throws millions of raw sewage into the environment.

Biologist Mário Moscatelli, who has been working for 30 years to combat the sediment thrown daily into the lagoon, said that “decades of neglect with urban sanitation and the uncontrolled growth of real estate in the region affect the most vulnerable species, which are the savannahs.

The fish have taken over the Marapendi lagoon and the Canal das Taxas. The residents of the buildings near the lagoon already feel the pungent stench of the fish kills due to the intense heat in Rio.

The Municipal Company of Urban Cleaning (Comlurb) informed that “although the removal of dead fish in Marapendi Lagoon and Canal das Taxas is out of the company’s area of action, a team with 20 garbage men started this Friday afternoon (Jan. 13) collecting the fish that are on the shore, with puçás (shovels).

It is worth pointing out that the responsibility for the environmental management of Marapendi lagoon belongs to the State Environmental Institute (Inea), and Comlurb only removes the waste when it reaches the sands of the beaches”.

Inea informed, using a note, that it has inspected Marapendi Channel this morning to respond to a denouncement of fish mortality.

Water quality samples were collected from the canal and sent to Inea’s laboratory for the issuance of a conclusive opinion on the causes of fish mortality.

The institute also said that “the phenomenon observed was probably caused, as has already occurred in this same period of the year, by the drop in water oxygenation, associated with the high temperature of the environment and the carriage of organic matter in the water body due to the rains that have occurred in recent days.

With information from Agencia Brasil

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