In Abkhazia, during the peak of the winter fishing season, the government plans to nearly double the quota for catching khamsa, a small fish belonging to the anchovy family. Social media users are expressing concerns that the authorities, in their pursuit of profit, are openly compromising the environment.
Overfishing of khamsa could potentially lead to a disaster for all entire marine fauna.
Before the start of the season, the Abkhazian government approved a quota of 27 thousand tons for all fishing companies to catch the fish. I
Typically, this quota is set based on input from the ecological service. But by the end of December, the allocated volume had already been caught, prompting authorities to hastily raise the quota by an additional 25 thousand tons.
“Our ecologists, along with those from the Azov-Black Sea Institute, recommend increasing the catch by another 25 thousand tons. The cabinet of ministers has not yet approved this decision. At the ministry of agriculture, we are preparing a document for government approval,” agriculture minister Beslan Jopua stated.
The export of raw fish is banned in Abkhazia, with all catches directed to local fish processing enterprises for the production of fish meal. Abkhazia hosts eight such enterprises, collectively designed to handle much larger fish volumes than the permitted 27 thousand tons.
Consequently, there is a prevailing opinion on social networks that the owners of these enterprises lobbied for the quota increase.
“There is no oversight from the ministry of agriculture… Overfishing khamsa poses a disaster for all fauna, disrupting the food chain. Predators like mackerel and lifer, among others, will be left without a food source, including dolphins,” explained one social media user.
In general, local residents have a lot of complaints about fish factories. All these factories are located on the seashore and they pour their production waste into the sea, as a result of which the seabed near the shore is covered with a greasy film.
“In winter, the water is usually clear, a little heavy with salt. But now it’s just a dead swamp!”, director Viola Kokoskir, who takes sea baths all year round, says.
She says that in early January she found an exhausted seabird on the shore, unable to take off because its wings were stuck together by the oily mass. The woman had to take the bird home and “resuscitate” it for several days before releasing it back.
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