©keystone
©keystone
  • dl/hc/ barfi
  • Aktualisiert am

Local News Summary of August, 3rd

  • Start-up Revendo opens shop in Steinenberg
  • «A summer of death» for the fish in Basel?

        

Start-up Revendo opens shop in Steinenberg

Revendo, a start-up shop which sells second-hand Apple and Android products in Gundeli, is to move to a prime site in the city centre.

For years, Steinenberg 5 has been a carpet shop – however, the former A&B Teppich Knüpfkunst GmbH is now empty. But not for long. Revendo is to open its first shop in the city centre at the end of August or early September. The shop at Güterstrasse will be kept open.

The start-up opened in 2013 as a concept for recycling Apple and Android devices. This is achieved through buying and re-selling these devices through its website or in the shop. Ahead of the new Basel shop’s opening (Revendo’s eighth in total), another shop will be opened in Winterthur, at Marktgasse 14 on Saturday.

«A summer of death» for the fish in Basel?

The current heat wave has meant above-average temperatures in the Rhine, which may cause the death of certain species of fish.

In the hot summer of 2003, many dead fish were seen floating on the surface of the Rhine. Experts fear this could happen again this year as water temperatures on Wednesday reached 25 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, causing a critical situation for the fish.

Such a temperature is life threatening for graylings, trout, and other fish in the Rhine. Temperatures above 25°C often kills them, according to Matthias Nabholz, manager of the Office for Environment and Energy Basel-Stadt. He told Barfi.ch that, the higher the water temperature, the less essential oxygen in the water.

Fish in smaller rivers, which reach a higher temperature more quickly, e.g. the Wiese, face even bigger problems. The water level is also very low at present. Drastic action has already been taken to remove fish from certain rivers and streams in Switzerland, which involves using an anaesthetic to stun the fish before taking them elsewhere. However, this is only possible in smaller rivers; the Rhine is too wide and is too fast for this operation.

Dead fish were spotted in a stream in Bennwil (BL) on Monday afternoon. The village council called in members of the water protection standby unit when they spotted a large number of dead brown trout at the entrance to the rain water channel.

Water temperatures similar to 2003?

The fish observing unit in Basel has so far not spotted any dead fish. High temperatures do not immediately lead to deaths but it instead triggers stress which can leads to death. «In this respect, fish are like people. Some deal with the heat better than others», Mr Nabholz said.

During the hottest summer of the century in 2003, the Rhine reached a temperature of 26°C. However, unlike in the Schaffhausen lake of Constance region there was no «summer of death» in Basel. Back then, the Rhine between Schaffhausen and the western end of the lake had reached a temperature of 27°C for a long period of time According to a study by the Federal Office for the Environment, more than 50,000 graylings died. The water temperature in Basel is traditionally lower since the cooler waters of the Aare and Reuss have already joined the Rhine.

In order to better cope with further expected heat waves in the future, a federal working group named «climate change and fishing» is examining long-lasting protection measures. Creating more shade on streams or further excavations could be such measures, so the fish could swim deeper. Concrete results are only expected to be communicated in two years.