|
POLLUTION IN THE GULF OF AQABA
by B. S. Singer *)
Quite a lot has been written on "Pollution in the Gulf of Aqaba"
with conservationists blaming the industries and each industry pointing
a fmger at the other. 'The wardens and researchers who are supposed to
keep an eye on things are powerless or unwilling to say much against the
industry that provides their livelyhood. Or they couch their reports in
such "scientific" terms that nobody really knows what they are
saying.
There are many sources of pollution, not the least of which is the
great number of visitors whose body secretions wash off them when they
simply enter the sea. Sinai used to be empty. Today Egypt is creating a
string of hotels all the way from Sharm el Sheik to Taba. The shipping
to and from Nuweiba, Eilat, Aqaba and the Arabian ports is also growing.
'The number of visitors and workers and the sewerage they create is formidable.
There does not seem much that we can do to alleviate the results of population
growth other than control the disposal of garbage and sewerage from ships
and the land based facilities. Perhaps the countries bordering the gulf
will create or expand nature reserves making breaks in the areas of human
concentrations.
A fairly new source of pollution comes from the fish farms at the northern
end of the Gulf of Aqaba. They are expanding very nicely and cover a large
area. The whole of Israel enjoys eating the fish grown there. But no effort
has been made to fmd the limits to which the farms may expand without harming
the corals and sea creatures that are the basis of a very popular tourist
industry. The Environmental and Water Quality Research group, a State sponsored
section of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Center, is
hard at work tabulating the present status of the area around the fish
farms. Unfortunately they have no records of conditions in the area before
the faims started operating so are unable to do a comparative study and
arrive at solid conclusions. Other sectors of the research center are working
on ways to safely absorb and break down the excess food fed to the fishes
and the excreta they generate. But they do not appear to have a working
solution judging from the condition of the North Beach. What used to be
hard sand is now soft and spongy, reminicent of quick sand. The weeds that
grow in that part of the sea also seem to have changed wzth different species
now flourishing.
The fish farming industry will claim that this is not a scientific
argument, but the damage is there. Until methods are introduced to contain
the spill and sewerage exuding fi om these farms they must not be allowed
to expand, in fact they should close down a slice of their operation. This
partial closure will only be temporary. When they fmd a solution to the
disposal problem they can expand again. The solution may be simple, like
having a corridor between each holding pen with rows of oysters, mussels,
cockles, commercially exploitable weeds or barnacles filtering out the
pollutants. The Research Center must work out the details. Then they can
make even more money and keep every one happy at the same time.
I do not know if the farmers pay rent on the sea area they use or how
much foreign currency their exports bring into Israel, but to allow their
unrestricted expansion is very short sighted. There is nothing positive
to hiding behind the phrase "the others are ruining the gulf any way".
I suppose the glass-bottomed boats will float over the dead corals and
the guide will tell the tourists how beautiful it used to be.
*)B. S. Singer Gluskin Str. 16/7 Rehovot 76273 Israei E-mail: [email protected]
36
Published in: TRITON, Journal of the Israel Malacological
Society No3 3/2001
|
