Photos: Iraq probes fish die-off in marshes
Iraqi authorities have opened an investigation into a mass die-off of fish in the country's central and southern marshlands, the latest in a series of such incidents in recent years.
One possible cause for the devastation is a shortage of oxygen, triggered by low water flow, increased evaporation and rising temperatures driven by climate change, according to officials and environmental activists. Another is the use of chemicals by fishermen.
'We have received several citizens' complaints,' said Jamal Abd Zeid, chief environmental officer for the Najaf governorate, which stretches from central to southern Iraq, adding that a technical inspection team had been set up.
He explained that the team would look into water shortages, electrical fishing, and the use by fishermen of 'poisons'.
For at least five years, Iraq has endured successive droughts linked to climate change. Authorities further attribute the severe decline in river flow to the construction of dams by neighbouring Iran and Turkiye.
The destruction of Iraq's natural environment adds another layer of suffering to a country that has already faced decades of war and political oppression.
'We need lab tests to determine the exact cause' of the fish die-off, said environmental activist Jassim al-Assadi, who suggested that agricultural pesticides could also be responsible.
Investigations into similar incidents have shown that the use of poison in fishing can lead to mass deaths.
'It is dangerous for public health, as well as for the food chain,' al-Assadi said. 'Using poison today, then again in a month or two … It's going to accumulate.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
How the myth of democracy fuels the US forever wars
From Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, US wars left not freedom, but ruin. In a recent book, co-authors Noam Chomsky and Nathan Robinson expose how American elites sell violence as virtue, using the myth of democracy to justify endless war.
Al Jazeera
16 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
The Take: How the myth of democracy fuels the US forever wars
From Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, US wars left not freedom, but ruin. In a recent book, co-authors Noam Chomsky and Nathan Robinson expose how American elites sell violence as virtue, using the myth of democracy to justify endless war. In this episode: Episode credits: This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolome, Haleema Shah, and Sonia Bhagat, with Manny Panaretos, Mariana Navarrete, Remas Alhawari, Kisaa Zehra, and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Kylene Kiang. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Photos: Iraq's Jewish community saves a long-forgotten shrine
In a bustling district of Baghdad, workers are labouring diligently to restore the centuries-old shrine of a revered rabbi, seeking to revive the long-faded heritage of Iraq's Jewish community. Just a few months ago, the tomb of Rabbi Isaac Gaon was filled with rubbish. Its door was rusted, the windows broken, and the walls blackened by decades of neglect. Now, marble tiles cover the once-small grave, and at its centre stands a large tombstone inscribed with a verse, the rabbi's name, and the year of his death: 688. A silver menorah hangs on the wall behind it. 'It was a garbage dump, and we were not allowed to restore it,' said Khalida Elyahu, 62, the head of Iraq's Jewish community. Iraq's Jewish community was once among the largest in the Middle East, but today has dwindled to just a handful of members. Baghdad now has only one synagogue remaining, but there are no rabbis. The restoration of the shrine is being funded by the Jewish community, at an estimated cost of $150,000. The project will bring 'a revival for our community, both within and outside Iraq', Elyahu said. With the support of Iraqi officials, she expressed hope to restore further neglected sites. There is little information about Rabbi Isaac. During a visit to the tomb earlier this year, Iraq's National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji stated that the rabbi had been a finance official. Rabbi Isaac was a prominent figure during the Gaonic period, also known as the era of Babylonian academies for rabbis. The title 'Gaon' is likely to refer to his role as the head of one such academy. His name was cited in the 10th century by another rabbi, who recounted a story that is not known from any other source, according to Professor Simcha Gross of the University of Pennsylvania. According to the account, Rabbi Isaac led 90,000 Jews to meet Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Islamic caliph and a relative of the Prophet Muhammad, who is revered by Shia Muslims as the first imam, during one of his conquests in central Iraq. 'We have no other evidence for this event, and there are reasons to be sceptical,' Gross noted. Nothing else is known about Rabbi Isaac, not even his religious views. According to biblical tradition, Jews arrived in Iraq in 586 BC, taken as prisoners by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, after he destroyed Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. In Iraq, they compiled the Babylonian Talmud. Thousands of years later, under Ottoman rule, Jews comprised 40 percent of Baghdad's population. As in other Arab countries, the history of Iraq's Jews shifted dramatically after the Palestinian Nakba, meaning 'catastrophe' in Arabic, and the founding of Israel in 1948. Soon after, almost all of Iraq's 135,000 Jews went into exile. Decades of conflict and instability — Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, the United States-led invasion in 2003, and subsequent violence — further diminished the community. Today, 50 synagogues and Jewish sites remain in Iraq, according to Elyahu. Most are in ruins, with some repurposed as warehouses.
