This spring again, local primary school pupils did not miss the opportunity to participate in the traditional fish releasing event in the River Elbe in Neratovice. In collaboration with Neratovice anglers, they released approximately one hundred kilograms of various fish species into the largest Czech river and are already looking forward to the autumn round for which 500 kilos of fascinating water creatures are being grown in fish hatcheries.

Releasing fish into the River Elbe has been supported for the ninth year by Neratovice-based Spolana, a member of the refining and petrochemical group ORLEN Unipetrol. With this project, Spolana contributes to restoring the fish population in the Elbe, which is necessary to improve this important river’s ecosystem. Alongside Spolana, the Czech Fishing Union and the Ecological Centre in Kralupy nad Vltavou participate in this project. The event organisers try to spark pupils’ interest in the environment and its protection with exciting activities. As part of the ecological programme, 7.5 tonnes of fish worth more than CZK 500,000 have been released into the river in recent years.

“We are delighted that we can continue supporting the project of adding fish into the Elbe together with local anglers and the school children. For them, this event is an interesting variation and an addition to their instruction,” says Miroslav Falta, executive at Spolana, and adds: “We release fish into the Elbe twice a year, always in the spring and the autumn, near the Spolana site in Neratovice. We thoroughly take care of our fish and their life in clean water all year long. Similarly, we seek to take care of the environment in our region and in other long-term projects, be they beekeeping at our production site or supporting the nesting of peregrine falcons.”

“For this year’s spring release of fish into the Elbe, we prepared one hundred kilograms of fish, mostly common carp. We count on another five hundred kilos of fish for the autumn round, including predatory fish such as pike. In addition, we presented to the children many other species of fish and aquatic animals who live in Czech rivers and on their banks. A host of threatened species of birds and amphibians are also at home near Spolana, which attests to the fact that we have a healthy environment here,” says Vladimír Náhlovský, chairman of the Czech Fishing Union branch in Neratovice. Neratovice anglers provided the children with many interesting insights about fish life, what they eat and how to tell them apart.

“There is a huge difference between a child seeing a fish only in a picture in their textbook and holding it in their own hands, releasing it into the water and observing how it swims and looks for a hiding place,” says Martina Černá, head of the Ecological Centre in Kralupy nad Vltavou, about the significant contribution of such events. She prepared with her team an interesting accompanying programme for the Neratovice pupils in which they learned about the importance of environmental protection and water protection. The discussed topics also included measurements of pH and temperature of local water, as well as water sound quiz.

Thanks to ORLEN Unipetrol, 7.5 tonnes of fish have been released into the Elbe since 2014. Releasing fish is one of the multiple activities with which Spolana supports the environment in its vicinity. Spolana also monitors threatened peregrine falcons nesting directly at its site and keeps bees whose honey receives the highest quality award – gold – every year. The peregrine falcon monitoring has been underway in collaboration with the non-profit ALKA Wildlife organisation since 2015. Since then, the peregrine falcons have had eight chicks. In recent years, Spolana has significantly decreased the impact of its production on the environment. This is attested to by welcome changes in nature. The vicinity of the production site, especially the biological pond, has become a popular haven for a host of protected and threatened animal species, including animals that are highly sensitive to the quality of the environment, such as river otters, common teals, common kingfisher, and trout.

Contact details: Pavel Kaidl, spokesperson, telephone: +420 736 502 520, email: pavel.kaidl@orlenunipetrol.cz