[Mike]

Fish die-off in the Ukraine – July 2007

Record high water temperatures from — ???? Localized, sudden global warming in the Ukraine?? –MC

Dead fish swamp Ukraine beaches

June 05 2007 at 04:34PM

Kiev – Tons of dead fish in shallow waters and on beaches were the grounds for a Ukraine Health Ministry’s ban on swimming in a summer resort region, Korrespondent magazine reported on Tuesday.

The order affected more than one dozen of kilometres of shore line along the Azov Sea, in the Donetsk province. The area’s economy depends on summer tourism.

Health inspectors testing dead fish and sea water found no evidence of poisoning or excess pollution – both frequent suspects in cases of fish die-off in the region, as Ukraine’s Donetsk province is the country’s most heavily industrialised.

The Health Ministry also made illegal private and commercial fishing along the shoreline in the vicinity of the villages Sedovo, Shirokino, and Vikohradno, pending an identification of the cause of the fish die-off.

The species most greatly affected was the bullhead or freshwater goby, a small teardrop-shaped fish popular with Ukrainian anglers and industrial fishermen.

Fish rotting on the beaches had brought the tourist industry in the area to a near complete halt. Local officials estimated the total weight of the dead gobies in the dozens of tons, according to the report.

Scientists identified high sea water temperatures breaking records sixty years old as a possible culprit in the fish kill.

The Azov Sea is a shallow body of water particularly important to the region’s ecology as a fish breeding ground. Energy companies have targeted the sea for development, because of natural gas reserves known to be below the sea floor. – Sapa-dpa

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw20070605154516364C141253