Amid Russia-Ukraine war, Turkish biologists work to protect Black Sea marine life
On July 26, Bayram Öztürk, a marine biologist and the head of İstanbul University’s Faculty Of Aquatic Sciences, organized a press conference to discuss the ecological impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war on the greater region.
Among a number of concerns he listed, some of the most pressing were the increasing death of dolphins and contaminants from the sinking of various ships throughout the conflict, including Russia’s flagship Moskva in April 2022.
Öztürk, who also chairs the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV), has spent much of his career studying the Black Sea and how to safeguard its biodiversity. In a recent campaign, his foundation proposed establishing off-limit corridors for military activity to permit the uninhibited migration for coastal birds and marine life.
“Putin and Zelensky should know [about] our proposal and stop the war in certain migration areas and periods,” Öztürk told Turkey recap, referring to the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. “I know this is an ultra-fantastic idea, but I’m a conservation biologist,” he said, emphasizing that nature is an asset.
Despite the war and its toll on the region, Öztürk and his colleagues continue a years-long campaign to establish five Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along Turkey’s Black Sea coast to protect marine life and require more sustainable practices from the fishing industry.
“The reason Turkey does not have MPAs [in the Black Sea] is because Turkey is considered a fishing ground,” Öztürk said. “They think that MPAs are an impediment for catching the fish.”
“Of course, this is scientifically wrong,” he continued, underlining MPAs increase fish stocks and eventually bolster the local fishing industry, a key point considering the Black Sea supplies the majority of Turkey’s fish, providing about 70 percent of the total yearly catch.
Current threats
The Black Sea is a relatively closed marine ecosystem, meaning whatever affects one part of it has the potential to impact the marine environment as a whole. Its waters generally circulate in a counter-clockwise current, with many smaller gyres. Though according to Nickolai Denisov, deputy director of the Zoi Environment Network, the negative impacts do not spread uniformly.
“There are currents and places where things end up first,” Denisov told Turkey recap. “All Black Sea countries have reported cases of dolphins injured or dead.”
Following the start of the full-scale war, Ukrainian marine scientists began collecting data and specimens to build a war crime case against the Russian government, which they seek to prosecute for ecocide as a result of its actions.
Along with marine life, shipping and fishing crews have also faced greater dangers due to the presence of untethered sea mines. Romanian media reported 70 stray mines had been detected as of May 2023, including seven in Turkey.
In the spring of 2022, several mines drifted near the mouth of İstanbul’s Bosporus Straits, posing a risk to maritime traffic on a busy and densely populated transit route. More recently, a Turkish-flagged cargo ship hit a stray mine on Oct. 5 near the coast of Romania, sustaining minor damage.
“The sea mines are all over the place,” Denisov said. “They threaten the navigation and traffic of Turkish ships. This threat is real, unpredictable and concerns navigational routes and coastal areas.”
Pulse of the sea
While the hazards and environmental concerns can vary widely, the ecological integrity of the Black Sea as a whole can be assessed at a single point on the Ukrainian coast, known as Zernov's Phyllophora Field. This area is distinctive for its red algae growth and was designated as the sea’s largest MPA in 2008.
Located offshore between Crimea and Odessa, the zone is home to three species of flora that have been subject to varying degrees of industrial extraction and pollution as a result of discharge from nearby rivers.
“The northwestern shelf is a place where you can take the pulse and determine the health of the entire Black Sea ecosystem,” Galina Minicheva, a senior Ukrainian marine biologist wrote via email to Turkey recap.
“This is a critical place that receives the three large Black Sea rivers: the Danube, the Dniester and the Dnieper,” she added, noting it was simultaneously “the dirtiest and most nutritious environment.”
Over the last 20 years, the European Union has invested millions of euros on clean up efforts to restore the Danube, which was one of the harmful rivers in the Black Sea “in terms of discharge”, Öztürk said.
Since scientists began tracking Zernov's Phyllophora Field in the 1930s, marine life and biodiversity have been severely impacted by industrialization. Following the establishment of the protected area, regenerative growth helped the area recuperate marine life, but Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has diminished conservation measures to a standstill.
“[Several] MPAs are currently under temporary occupation by the Russian Federation, or were annexed back in 2014 along with the Crimean Peninsula,” said Minicheva, who also directs The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine’s Institute of Marine Biology.
Sturgeon general warning
In comparison with Turkey’s waters in the Aegean Sea, its Black Sea environs are less overrun with tourism and industry, Öztürk noted.
That said, the same challenges that plague Aegean and Mediterranean environments are also threatening the Black Sea, such as overfishing, illegal fishing and invasive fish imperiling the existence of endangered native species, all to the detriment of the ecosystem.
The Black Sea’s sturgeon stocks are on the edge of extinction, with just four species left in their native habitat. Monk seals, turbot and jack mackerel are also vanishing quickly beside them.
“Sturgeons are some of the oldest fish species alive,” Linas Svolkinas, staff researcher at the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), told Turkey recap. “They are of global importance, and unfortunately the sturgeon stocks throughout the world have been badly depleted.”
Adding conservationists were working to support new fish stocks, he said, “The Black Sea historically has been one of the key habitat areas for sturgeons, especially the beluga sturgeon, one of the largest fish in the world.”
In recent decades, the effects of climate change have also added to a series of negative human-caused effects in the Black Sea. More severe storms, droughts and flooding continue to destabilize the region.
Warming waters and international trade have also given rise to invasive species, such as the Rapana venosa, a sea snail native to the Pacific Ocean that has become a destructive predator in its newfound Black Sea habitats.
“The most important threat is the puffer fish right now,” said Öztürk, referring to the Indo-Pacific species invading the Black Sea through the Suez Canal – the same path used by the lion fish, which is degrading biodiversity in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
Şile’s migratory corridor
Despite the regional environmental threats, Turkey also hosts some key areas where marine life thrives – or could thrive further, according to biologists. The city’s Şile district on the Black Sea coast is home to a biological migratory corridor for the greater Mediterranean region.
In May, fish migrations start in Şile near the mouth of the Bosporus. They then pass through the Marmara and Aegean seas to reach southern Turkey. In September, fish stocks migrate back, retracing the same route.
Şile represents a crucial habitat for protecting regional fish stocks. For this reason, Öztürk and his colleagues keep working to designate the area under MPA status. While there is an adequate base of scientific data concerning Turkey’s Black Sea ecologies and their conservation, Öztürk said the challenge is applying initiatives in the field.
“We know what we have to do,” Öztürk said. “We have a scientific monitoring program, but in terms of the management issue, implementation is very low or weak. Some parties, mainly fishermen, are not convinced on that subject. We have to work on that.”
This newsletter is supported by readers via Patreon and Substack. Paid subscribers get access to our full recaps and reports, our members-only Slack channel and more.
Turkey recap is an independent news platform produced by the Kolektif Medya Derneği, an İstanbul-based non-profit association founded by our editorial team to support and elevate news media and journalists in Turkey.
Send feedback, queries and pitches to info@turkeyrecap.com.
Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief @diegocupolo
Gonca Tokyol, Editor-at-large @goncatokyol
Ingrid Woudwijk, Managing editor @deingrid
Verda Uyar, Digital growth manager @verdauyar
Semanur Beşevli, Editorial intern @semanurbesevli