Deadly Waters: İzmir’s Mass Fish Die-Off Sends Shockwaves to Volos and Beyond
Mass Fish Deaths in Turkey and Greece: A Growing Environmental Concern
By Cihan Başakçıoğlu and Kavel Alpaslan / Gazete Duvar
Mass fish deaths have been reported in Turkey and Greece, with dead fish washing ashore in the Bayraklı district of the Aegean province of İzmir and the port in Volos, Greece. The constant deaths of fish have caused a persistent bad smell in the coastal areas of both cities.
The İzmir Metropolitan Municipality has been continuing its cleaning efforts with marine vessels, while the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change has announced an investigation into fish deaths in the Gulf of İzmir.
Mass Fish Deaths in the ’Neighbourhood’
Hundreds of thousands of dead fish have washed ashore at the port in Volos, Greece, across the Aegean Sea. Volos authorities have advised against swimming and fishing in the affected areas.
The Deputy Governor of Magnesia, Anna-Maria Papadimitriou, described the incident as an “environmental disaster” and called for more awareness and action.
Environmentalists in Greece and Turkey have begun to discuss the role of human factors in the pollution and fish deaths in the Aegean Sea. The deaths of hundreds of thousands of fish at the same time in Volos and İzmir have drawn attention to the need to consider these causes together.
Nikos Kanellis: ‘The Fish Deaths Were Not a Natural Event’
Nikos Kanellis, a member of the Keep It In The Ground movement, linked the fish deaths in Volos to the flood disaster that happened last year. Kanellis explained that the region experienced major floods caused by the climate crisis about a year ago, leading to significant growth in Lake Karla near Volos.
Kanellis emphasized that neither the municipality nor the government authorities had really followed what was happening in the lake during this year’s process, adding that fish deaths were not a “natural” event.
“The first dead fish in the Pagasetic Gulf started appearing about a month ago. Of course, no intervention was made until the number of dead fish reached a very large number. They piled up inside the harbor of Volos, the whole sea surface was filled with dead fish,” he said.
‘The Fate of Both Coasts is the Same’
İpek Sarıca, Co-Spokesman of the Aegean Environment and Culture Platform (EGEÇEP), drew attention to the human pollution in the seas and said that the fate of the two coasts around the Aegean Sea has been similar for years.
Sarıca said that they have not yet received any response to the requests they have made as a platform regarding the situation in İzmir and added, “If the reason for the pollution of the sea is the algae issue, this means corruption. Facilities causing ecocide should be identified and closed or strictly inspected.”
Sarıca pointed out that the failure of the administration is to allow practices that could potentially pollute the environment. He said, “However, our system does not have this. We allow certain practices, and if we see that the environment is being polluted, we impose penalties. We need to move beyond the ‘polluter’ approach which pays’ and tackle matters carefully.”
