At 5:30 a.m., Mattei and his crew leave the coast of Constanța, Romania in their small fishing boat and head into the Black Sea. The dozen men on board quickly get to work preparing their nets. The usually calm sea is stirred up as they cast their nets with impressive accuracy. However, this season, the fishermen are disappointed by their catch. Captain Mattei frowns as he looks over the haul and explains that the fish are too small because they didn’t have enough time to grow properly.
Mattei, who is 42 years old and a third-generation fisherman, explains that his father fishes in the pond while he fishes in the sea. He smiles as he gazes out at the horizon. But like many fishermen in the region, Mattei’s daily life has been disrupted by the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, which has sent waves through the Black Sea.
For local fishermen like Mattei, the war has had a far-reaching impact beyond the battlefield. It has put immense pressure on the already fragile marine resources of the Black Sea. “Even though we’ve seen some species returning since the war began, the overall situation is still dire,” Mattei says. “Pollution is a huge problem.”
The fragile ecosystems of the Black Sea are suffering greatly due to the protracted war. The damage goes beyond just the environment, affecting local populations and maritime security as well. The main culprit is clear: Russia‘s destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.
The Black Sea, known for its unique biodiversity, is now facing unprecedented environmental and security issues. This crisis began with the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on June 6, 2023. The disaster not only devastated agricultural lands and displaced local communities, but it also put immense pressure on the region’s fragile marine ecosystem.
Over a year ago, the explosion of the Kakhovka dam released millions of cubic meters of freshwater into the Dnipro River, causing a chain of catastrophic events. The floodwaters swept away everything in their path, including houses, livestock, and industrial waste. The impact was swift and severe, with over 100,000 people having to evacuate from Kherson and surrounding areas, and 584,000 hectares of agricultural land losing their essential water source.
Less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the epicenter, the Black Sea also suffered greatly. Connected to the Mediterranean only through the narrow Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, the Black Sea struggles to effectively flush out pollutants and toxins.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam caused a cyanobacteria bloom and wiped out 70% of the mussels along the Odesa coast. One of the immediate effects of the dam’s destruction was a sharp decrease in the Black Sea’s salinity, leading to the growth of cyanobacteria. This, in turn, had a devastating impact on the mussels along the Odesa coast.
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