- Title: Iraq fish farmers hit by carp deaths, amid fears over pollution
- Date: 5th November 2018
- Summary: MUSSAYAB DISTRICT, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 3, 2018) (REUTERS) EXCAVATOR CARRYING DEAD FISH AS VAST NUMBERS OF SILVER CARP COVER SURFACE OF EUPHRATES RIVER EXCAVATOR REMOVING DEAD FISH FROM RIVER / LOADING FISH INTO TRUCK EXCAVATOR COLLECTING DEAD FISH FLOATING ON SURFACE OF RIVER EXCAVATOR LOADING DEAD FISH INTO BACK OF TRUCK DEAD FISH ON BANK OF RIVER MUSSAYAB DISTRICT, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 2, 2018) (REUTERS) VAST NUMBERS OF SILVER CARP COVERING SURFACE OF EUPHRATES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNDER-SECRETARY OF MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, MAHDI SARI AL-JIBOURI, SAYING: "Crowded floating cages and close distance between them were among the reasons, in addition to the stagnation of water due to low level of water flowing in the Euphrates coming from Turkey. As a result, the Euphrates river in these areas has been turned into a lake of stagnant waters. This in consequence has caused a depletion of oxygen and eventually the deaths of vast numbers of fish." MUSSAYAB DISTRICT, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 3, 2018) (REUTERS) FLOATING CAGES OF FISH FARM WORKERS REMOVING DEAD FISH FROM RIVER WORKER PLACING DEAD FISH ON TOP OF FLOATING CAGE VARIOUS OF WORKER REMOVING FLOATING DEAD FISH FROM RIVER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) OWNER OF FISH FARM, MOHAMMED ALI HAMZA AL-JUMAILI, SAYING: "Eight to 10 workers are working here and are now without jobs. The amount of the dead fish is estimated at tonnes. We could not remove them all. It is a further cost that adds to our financial losses. The effort of a whole year has been wasted in addition to the money we had paid for workers and feed. We have employed more workers to get dead fish out of the cages. We call on the prime minister, the ministries of environment and health to work swiftly and take a clear stance so that we know the reason. We ask for compensation for the fish owners." FLOATING CAGES OF FISH FARM / WORKERS COLLECTING DEAD FISH WORKER USING BOX TO REMOVE FLOATING DEAD FISH FROM RIVER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) OWNER OF FISH FARM, MOHAMMED ALI HAMZA AL-JUMAILI, SAYING: "The price of one kilo of fish was 7,000 to 8,000 Iraqi dinars ($5.8 - $6.7), but when the fish farms started production, the price of one kilo of fish went down to 3,000 or 4,000 dinars ($2.5 - $3.4), which is an affordable price for people. Now after the death of our fish, people will no longer be able to afford buying fish, because it will increase to 10,000 ($8.35) or 8,000 dinars ($6.7). We call on the government to compensate all the fish farmers, whether those who have officially-licensed farms or those who do not, to enable them to continue fish production. Our losses were huge, as you can see." BOATS IN RIVER SURROUNDED BY DEAD FISH VARIOUS OF BOATS IN RIVER / DEAD FISH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FISH FARMER, JABBAR GHAZI AL-JANABI, SAYING: "We have around 40 cages and we have been feeding them for one year and four months. I have to pay the trader of fish feed around 500 million (Iraqi dinars) ($417,337). How can I pay him now? Can you tell me how? The average weight of each one of my fish is two or two and a half kilos and all of them have perished now, so how can I get money? I will get into trouble with the owners of factories, if the government does not help us a bit. It must look after these people, the workers. All these projects have come to an end and each project had at least 10 workers and all of them now are left without jobs. Where will they go? This will increase the level of unemployment." VARIOUS OF DEAD FISH MUSSAYAB DISTRICT, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 2, 2018) (REUTERS) DEAD FISH UNDER BRIDGE
- Embargoed: 19th November 2018 14:10
- Keywords: freshwater carp freshwater carp perish fish farms in Iraq water pollution in Iraq
- Location: MUSSAYAB DISTRICT, IRAQ
- City: MUSSAYAB DISTRICT, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Environment,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001958BHAT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Along the Iraqi banks of the Euphrates river, one question dominates the conversation; What killed the fish?
Thousands of tonnes of freshwater carp have washed up dead this month, leaving Iraqi fish farmers reeling at the significant loss of earnings.
Carp is the country's national dish, commonly barbecued outdoors across restaurants in Baghdad.
Agriculture officials have ruled out the deliberate poisoning of the fish after rumours swirled of unspecified foul play, but the immediate causes are still unclear.
The worse-hit fish farms are in Babel province, south of Baghdad, where farmers scooped dozens of floating carp carcasses out of their cages and dumped them in the Euphrates over the weekend.
"The amount of the dead fish is estimated at tonnes. We could not remove them all," said Mohammed Ali Hamza Al-Jumaili, a fish farm owner in Mussayab, some 70 km (43.5 miles) south of Baghdad.
"The effort of a whole year has been wasted in addition to the money we had paid for workers and feed. We have employed more workers to get dead fish out of the cages."
As excavators were employed to remove the large volume of the foul-smelling fish, Al-Jumaili warned that prices could more than double to 10,000 Iraqi dinars ($8.43) per kilo in the wake of the losses.
"We call on the government to compensate all the fish farmers, whether those who have officially-licensed farms or those who do not, to enable them to continue fish production. Our losses were huge, as you can see."
The agriculture ministry said in a statement on Sunday that illness among the carp spread quickly because of cramped conditions in breeding cages, and that reduced water flow along the Euphrates had also contributed.
It said that in the last 48 hours no new cases of perishing fish have been reported. The official Al-Sabah newspaper reported on Sunday that there would be scientific tests done outside the country to try to find out what killed the fish.
The incident is a dramatic sign of worsening pollution and water problems in Iraq, which is increasingly struggling to ensure a clean and sufficient water supply especially in the south of the country.
In Basra, some 300 miles (500 km) to the southeast of Baghdad, the Shatt-al-Arab river, where the Euphrates and Tigris meet, is now so polluted it threatens the lives of the more than 4 million inhabitants. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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