Fisheries in Syria face increasing challenges due to pollution, climate change, and overfishing, making their protection and regulated investment essential to preserve biodiversity and ensure resource sustainability. The General Authority for Fisheries and Aquatic Life is developing monitoring tools and scientific research, and expanding fish farming projects to address these challenges.
Haitham Dib, Director of the Research Directorate at the General Authority for Fisheries and Aquatic Life, emphasized in a statement to SANA that protecting fish resources requires intensifying marine studies and research, monitoring water quality, tracking invasive species, and enhancing coordination among relevant authorities to preserve the marine environment and fish stocks.
Enhancing Marine Monitoring
Dib highlighted the importance of employing modern technologies in monitoring the marine environment, noting that satellites and remote sensing allow for tracking water temperatures, chlorophyll concentration, and marine plankton, as well as detecting oil pollution patches and algal blooms. He explained that marine sensors help continuously measure oxygen, salinity, acidity, and turbidity, providing early warnings when environmental changes occur.
He noted that acoustic surveys and sonar provide data on the seabed, fish aggregations, and fish stock estimates, stressing the importance of linking satellite-based data with field and laboratory measurements, and cooperating with research centers, including the Higher Institute of Marine Research and the University of Latakia, to conduct surveys, collect samples, and monitor invasive species.
Protection Measures
Dib stated that enhancing sustainable fishing requires implementing biological rest periods during breeding seasons, regulating licenses, and combating illegal fishing methods, such as explosives, poisons, electrofishing, and illegal nets, in accordance with governing legislation. He stressed the necessity of using nets with legal mesh sizes that allow small fish and non-target organisms to escape.
Dib added the need to educate fishermen on how to handle sea turtles entangled in nets and return them to the sea unharmed, alongside coordinating the establishment of marine and coastal protected areas to preserve marine organism habitats and breeding grounds.
Overfishing and Pollution
The Director of the Research Directorate at the General Authority for Fisheries and Aquatic Life pointed out that overfishing and the excessive depletion of fish stocks are among the most prominent challenges facing the sector, despite efforts to curb illegal fishing. He noted the continuation of harmful practices, such as fishing during breeding seasons and using nets with narrow mesh sizes, as well as the use of destructive fishing methods, including explosives, although their spread has decreased recently.
Dib indicated that discharging untreated sewage and industrial waste into the sea and rivers leads to a decline in water quality due to the accumulation of organic matter, nutrients, and pollutants. This encourages algal growth, and their decomposition consumes dissolved oxygen, threatening the lives of fish and marine organisms.
Invasive Marine Species
Dib explained that rising water temperatures in the eastern Mediterranean and climate change, along with the transfer of organisms through maritime routes, have contributed to the spread of species from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, a phenomenon known as Lessepsian migration. He highlighted the role of commercial ships in transporting invasive species and parasites through ballast water and organisms attached to ship hulls.
Dib emphasized the necessity of monitoring ships in ports and scrutinizing ballast water records and international certificates, verifying compliance with International Maritime Organization standards regarding ballast water exchange or treatment.
Future Plans
Dib stated that the Authority is moving to expand fish farming projects using floating cages and coastal and inland water bodies, and rehabilitating hatcheries, research centers, and government farms, including those in Al-San, Shattha, and Ain Al-Taqah, with the aim of enhancing the production of fingerlings suitable for the local environment.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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