(16 Nov 2018) Czechs will have to pay more for their traditional Christmas delicacy this year after serious droughts badly damaged the carp population.
The drought caused a lethal combination of heat and lack of water and oxygen in the ponds in most parts of the country.
In the region considered a carp haven near the border with Austria, however, the situation was different.
The region also suffered from the drought, but a network of about 500 carp ponds interconnected with man-made canals ensured the living condition for the fish.
"A lack of water in the ponds was a key factor this autumn for the (increased) price," said Josef Malecha, chief executive of Trebon Fisheries, a major fresh water fish producer in the country and the European Union.
The company estimates its fish production this year will be similar to previous years, about 3,200 metric tonnes (3,527 tons).
Carp account for more than 90 percent of the catch. The rest include pike, catfish, pike-perch, amur (grass carp) and tench. They are exported to many European countries.
"As a result, the weight gain of the fish was less," Malecha said. "So, we had to fix it by using more food (grain). And the food was more expensive because the farmers suffered from the drought as well."
In the Czech Republic, a country of meat lovers who mostly overlook fish for the rest of the year, nobody could imagine Christmas without it.
Live carp are sold in street markets just before the holiday and turned into fish soup and fried in bread crumbs to serve on Christmas Eve.
Some lucky ones are given to children to play with in their bathtubs and are later released back into the rivers or ponds.
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