The fish comes back

White Gold – Dying Sea

White Gold – Dying Sea
Frauke Huber, Uwe H. Martin

Chemical use and excessive irrigation of cotton fields in Central Asia turned the fertile paradise of the Aral Sea into a chemically polluted salt desert. The decline continues in the south, where Uzbekistan forces its population to work the cotton fields. 

According to the WWF the production of 1 kg of cotton uses 7,000 to 29,000 liters of water because three-quarters of cotton grows under irrigation in dry, warm countries. Cotton growing is directly implicated in the degradation of large-scale ecosystems including the Aral Sea in Central Asia.

Where only 50 years ago the worlds 4th largest lake guaranteed a mild climate, a chemical polluted salt dessert remains. Sandstorms raise the poisonous dust of the plain into the air and contribute heavily to worldwide air pollution. The salt blown to the Pamir Knot melts the mountains’ glaciers, putting Central Asia’s water supply at peril.

While the large southern Aral Sea keeps shrinking there is some hope to restore the smaller northern Aral Sea. Irrigation works on the Syr Darya have been repaired and improved to increase its water flow, and in August 2005 a concrete dam was completed, separating the two halves of the Aral Sea. Since then the water level of the North Aral has risen, and its salinity has decreased. The restoration reportedly gave rise to long absent rain clouds and possible microclimate changes.

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  • Fishermen of the Maksat brigade from Bogun fish on the Northern Aral Sea in Kazakstan. 

    Irrigation works on the Syr Darya have been repaired and improved to increase its water flow, and in August 2005 a concrete dam was completed, separating the two halves of the Aral Sea. Since then the water level of the North Aral Sea has risen, and its salinity has decreased. The dam has caused the small Aral's sea level to rise swiftly to 38 m, from a low of less than 30 m, with 42 m (138 ft) considered the level of viability. The restoration reportedly gave rise to long absent rain clouds and possible microclimate changes, bringing tentative hope to an agricultural sector swallowed by a regional dustbowl, and some expansion of the shrunken sea.
  • Economically significant stocks of fish have returned to the North Aral Sea, and its returning waters started partly reviving the fishing industry.

    Economically significant stocks of fish have returned to the North Aral Sea, and its returning waters started partly reviving the fishing industry.

  • Increasingly more fishermen return to the northern Aral Sea after the water is coming back.

    Increasingly more fishermen return to the northern Aral Sea after the water is coming back.

  • The fishermen from Bogun sell their fish directly on the shore to the drivers from the new fish factory in Aralsk.

    The fishermen from Bogun sell their fish directly on the shore to the drivers from the new fish factory in Aralsk.

  • Fishermen from Bogun rest for a quick breakfast on the shore of the northern Aral Sea.

    Fishermen from Bogun rest for a quick breakfast on the shore of the northern Aral Sea.

  • Aikilde returns from fishing to the container he shares with seven other fishermen of the Maksat Brigade.

    Aikilde returns from fishing to the container he shares with seven other fishermen of the Maksat Brigade.

  • Fishermen of the Maksat brigade from Bogun relax on the shore of the Aral Sea, where they are living in a container most of the year. 

    Bogun has been an important port on the Aral Sea till the 1960s. When the sea shrank the city that had a population of 9000 was left dry in the desert. The economy destroyed, most people moved away and Bogun became a small village of 1500. Because of the construction of a dam separating the small northern Aral from the bigger southern part that is still drying up, the water level rises again in the north. Today the Aral Sea is in reach of Bogun again and is expected to return to the city in the near future.
  • Fisherman of the Maksat brigade from Bogun in Kazakhstan play cards in the container they live in most of the year. 

    Ten days in a row they are staying in a container on the shore of the Sea, still 13 kilometers away from their village, before returning for 5 days to their families. 
  • Fish is sorted at a storage place in Bogun, before it is transported to the new fish factory in Aralsk.

    Fish is sorted at a storage place in Bogun, before it is transported to the new fish factory in Aralsk.

  • A small fish factory opened in Aralsk again. The fish from the region is yet again exported to neighboring countries and even to the Ukraine.

    A small fish factory opened in Aralsk again. The fish from the region is yet again exported to neighboring countries and even to the Ukraine.

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The fish comes back

The fisherman of the Maksat Brigade fish on the northern Aral Sea, which experiences a revival since a dam was build and more water reaches the sea. 

The fish comes back
Artist/Author: Uwe H. Martin Frauke Huber

Due to increased water supply by the Syrdarya river in recent years and a dam that prevents the water being lost to the southern big Aral Sea, the northern part is steadily rising again.

Economically significant stocks of fish have returned to the North Aral Sea, and observers were surprised by unexpected reports that in 2006 its returning waters were already partly reviving the fishing industry and producing catches for export as far as Ukraine.