Endangered trout possibly wiped out by flood works

Environmental experts are currently investigating the very real possibility that “flood control works” in early November in the upper reaches of the Louros River in northwestern Greece commissioned by the Epirus Regional Authority may have wiped out a species of trout endemic to Greece.

For its part, the Regional Authority of Epirus claims that it was simply removing fallen trees.

Following local complaints, the area was visited by teams of environmental inspectors and the Epirus Unit of the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA), as the endemic trout (Salmo lourosensis) is a critically endangered species.

In addition to interrupting the flow of the river for 8 kilometers, inspectors recorded “extensive interventions including placing boulders on the sides of the riverbed, widening the riverbed in sections, removing islands and debris from the riverbed and leveling it in some places.”