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Modern Mysteries

Mystery surrounds mass fish deaths in Iraq

By T.K. Randall
November 4, 2018 · Comment icon 6 comments

What killed all the fish ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Biswarup Ganguly
Fish farmers have been left devastated following the unexplained deaths of hundreds of thousands of carp.
The disaster, which has left the banks of the Euphrates river strewn with huge piles of dead fish, has primarily affected the area around the city of Saddat al-Hindiyah to the south of Baghdad.

Not only are the mass fish deaths an environmental disaster, they have also left hundreds of fish farmers with crippling losses and thousands of locals with a greatly reduced food supply.

"Some are saying it's because of a sickness, others say it's because of chemicals," said fish farmer Hussein Faraj. "We're waiting for a solution from the government or a test of the water - we're scared the water will poison us in the coming days, too."

It is believed that at least 90 percent of all the fish across multiple local fish farms have died.
"I farmed 70,000 fish in these ponds - all of them are dead," said fish farmer Anas Nuhad. "Where am I supposed to get fish from now ? Everyone eats fish."

"So many people, so many families are living off this industry."

Iraq's health ministry has collected samples of the water and dead fish for testing however so far no findings have been announced.

All the local fish farmers can do now is wait.



Source: Phys.org | Comments (6)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by Jon the frog 5 years ago
Maybe someone sprayed rotenone on a field near the river, seen that in a spring near a broccoli field here in Quebec. It literally kill all critters with gills in an instant.
Comment icon #2 Posted by third_eye 5 years ago
The birds ain't gonna be breeding well after this ... ~
Comment icon #3 Posted by It's Just An Opinion 5 years ago
ah don't worry about the food supply just make money and procreate more that'll solve itself later XD
Comment icon #4 Posted by Black Red Devil 5 years ago
It couldn't have been ISIS. The fish have still got their heads.
Comment icon #5 Posted by Buzz_Light_Year 5 years ago
They may well find out where exactly Saddam hid some of his chemical weapons.
Comment icon #6 Posted by Myles 5 years ago
Iraq's pollution problems are huge.   I'm surprised the fish can live at all.    I guess they are carp.   Nasty, nasty carp.


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