A federal trial in San Francisco has brought US tire manufacturers, fishing groups, and environmental scientists into court over a chemical most drivers have never heard of — but which scientists say may be silently reshaping aquatic ecosystems. The case centers on 6PPD, a chemical antioxidant used in nearly all vehicle tires to prevent cracking and extend tire life. When 6PPD on tire treads reacts with ground-level ozone on the road, it transforms into 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-Q), a compound now at the center of a major environmental and legal dispute.

The lawsuit was filed by American fishing organizations, including the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), represented by Earthjustice. Earthjustice is a nonprofit environmental law firm founded in 1971.

The plaintiffs argue that continued use of 6PPD in tires violates the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) because its byproduct, 6PPD-Q, harms protected salmon and steelhead populations. 6PPD-Q is added to tire rubber to prevent cracking and degradation of rubber caused by ozone and oxygen in the air. But fishermen are sure this material is causing toxicity and salmon die-off.

“Fishing families up and down the West Coast of the United States depend on the health of salmon populations for their livelihoods,” said Glen Spain, General Legal Counsel for IFR and PCFFA. “Whether or not this should continue will be up to the Court.”

The defendants are US tire manufacturers, represented collectively by industry counsel. Common US tire makers include Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Michelin and Pirelli.

What the Scientists Testified about 6PPD-Q

The court heard from multiple academic researchers whose work focuses on toxicology, hydrology, and fisheries biology.

Edward Kolodziej, an environmental chemist and award-winning researcher at the University of Washington, first identified 6PPD-Q in 2021, and testified that the compound is the primary cause of decades-long episodes of mass coho salmon mortality linked to stormwater runoff. His testimony described how cities like Seattle invested millions in creek restoration only to see the salmon continue dying — prompting research that ultimately traced the deaths back to tire-derived chemicals.

Kolodziej emphasized that his findings have since been replicated across regions and methodologies, which he said strengthens the scientific consensus around 6PPD-Q’s toxicity. He also said the tire industry knew about his research.

According to Mavensnotebook, Kolodziej said his team was contacted in 2018 after witnesses documented female coho salmon dying in urban streams before reproducing. His team identified a mortality signature for the chemicals that were present in the water when the fish perished, identifying the majority of the chemicals as derivatives from tire rubber. A 2021 study published by his team concluded that 6PPD-quinone was the primary toxic chemical in Urban Runoff Mortality Syndrome.

“It opened up our eyes that there are a lot of abundant tire rubber chemicals we knew little about,” he said. “Learning more and more about tires could explain this case of mortality.”

John Stark, a Professor of Ecotoxicology at Washington State University, testified that 6PPD-Q is toxic to coho, Chinook, and steelhead at concentrations likely to occur in real-world habitats. He told the court that, in his research career, he has not encountered a chemical as toxic as 6PPD-Q. According to Stark, fish exposed to the compound did not recover even when returned to clean water. We wonder what happens when people eat fish that have ingested 6PPD-Q.

Stark’s peer-reviewed paper, admitted into evidence, shows significant mortality occurring below current EPA safety benchmarks.

Dr. Robert Lusardi, a conservation biologist at UC Davis, testified that salmon and steelhead are present in the freshwater habitats of the 24 ESA-protected species named in the case throughout the year. When asked directly by the judge whether 6PPD-Q was a “silent killer,” Lusardi responded that it was.

How the chemical reaches salmon

As tires roll on roads, they wear down from friction. This creates tiny particles called tire wear particles (a mix of rubber, fillers, and additives) which includes 6PPD-Q.

On the issue of exposure pathways, Derek B. Booth, a geologist and hydrologist specializing in stormwater, testified that roads generate runoff that transports contaminants — including 6PPD-Q — into streams and rivers. Booth told the court that existing stormwater treatment systems are not sufficient to prevent the chemical from reaching aquatic habitats.

He stated that after reviewing extensive peer-reviewed data and walking thousands of waterways, there is “no reasonable way” that 6PPD-Q is not entering fish habitats. Supporting this, Maureen Goff, M.Sc., a GIS mapping expert, presented maps showing extensive overlap between roadways and critical habitats for ESA-protected species.

Tire makers offer a defense with paid scientists

The tire industry’s witnesses focused on uncertainty, feasibility, and safety tradeoffs.

Corissa Lee, called as a tire expert, testified that she could not estimate how long a tire made without 6PPD would last or whether it would meet federal motor vehicle safety standards. She acknowledged that alternative chemicals under review by the US Tire Manufacturers Association present unresolved technical or toxicity concerns.

She also testified that she was aware that Flexsys, the largest US manufacturer of 6PPD, announced in November that it had developed a viable alternative — but said she did not consider that alternative when concluding that 6PPD is uniquely effective.

Other defense witnesses, including William Goodfellow and Tiffany Thomas, testified despite having no direct laboratory or field research on 6PPD-Q itself. Court testimony noted that Thomas was paid $450,000 for her work in the case and had not conducted independent studies on the chemical. She is a principal scientist at science consulting firm Exponent, and she was reported to have testified at the trial that 6PPD-quinone is quick to degrade and has the opportunity to react with different chemicals and undergo many physical actions between the road surface and surface water.

“Without understanding all these factors, the ability to predict is speculation,” she said, adding that Kolodziej acknowledged the factors, but did not weigh them in his opinions.

All three defense witnesses were paid and are affiliated with Exponent, a consulting firm long used by industry in environmental and health litigation. Exponent has previously faced public criticism over the objectivity of its research, including in a 2010 Los Angeles Times investigation when Toyota called in the “paid scientists”

Toyota’s 2010 investigation was on unintended acceleration, and they covered cases involving secondhand smoke, asbestos exposure, and toxic waste contamination. The LA Times investigation reported that many companies facing environmental or public-health litigation turned to Exponent for expert analysis and courtroom defense. While Exponent employs credentialed scientists and engineers, the firm’s work has drawn criticism from some academics and public-interest advocates who question the independence of industry-funded research.

One of the trial’s most notable moments came when the judge asked whether there was any dispute that tire manufacturers knew tires shed 6PPD-Q and that it could run off into waterways. Defense counsel confirmed there was no dispute on that point.

The trial has concluded, and the judge is expected to issue a decision in the coming months. At issue is not only the future of a common tire additive, but how courts weigh emerging chemical science against industrial safety standards and endangered species protections. If there are no proven and safe alternatives, what can tire manufacturers do? Can we treat or spray our tires with a material that will stop the shed of micro-particles? Should tire manufacturers heed the call and offer millions in CEO compensation and executive bonuses to mitigate risks to wildlife, rivers and human health? Note that 4 of the biggest tire companies are from Japan?

According to Simply Wall Street Mark W. Stewart from Goodyear is making about $25 million USD a year on tires in 2024. He is credited for turning the company around from a loss.

“As expert testimony and the evidence have made clear this week: 6PPD-Q is devastating to vulnerable salmon populations, yet 6PPD continues to be used by U.S. tire manufacturers,” said Perry Wheeler, spokesperson for Earthjustice, in a statement following the trial’s conclusion.

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A few weeks ago, I took my son Gabriel to the edge of the sand dunes in Michmoret, a peaceful pocket of the Israeli Mediterranean coast a half hour drive from Tel Aviv. We weren’t there to sunbathe or surf, but to meet a man who has dedicated his life to turtles—at first the ancient ones who still roam the Indian Ocean’s most sacred atoll and injured survivors stranded ashore in a Mediterranean Sea increasingly shaped by war, overfishing, plastics, and politics.

This is the story of Dr. Yaniv Levy, founder of Israel’s Sea Turtle Rescue Center—the world’s only government-supported turtle hospital and breeding center unlike any in the world. But to understand why his work matters, you have to go back nearly 30 years, to another coastline altogether: Aldabra Atoll, part of the Seychelles, one of the last untouched Edens left on Earth.

“My Heart Is Still There”

Levy’s journey began in the mid-1990s. He was 26 and nursing invisible wounds and finding solace underwater—onboard a dive boat in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. For three years he lived and worked on the boat, as a deck-hand, first mate and a dive instructor and guide, spending many months navigating between remote islands of the Seychelles, mainly in Assomption Island and the Aldabra Atoll.

Aldabra is no ordinary coral ring island. Home to giant tortoises, flightless rails, sacred ibis, and staggering numbers of green and hawksbill turtles, it is so pristine that boats are prohibited from entering its lagoon, and a 40 km radius around it. Access comes only through Assomption Island, a now-threatened outpost with a tiny airstrip, where wealthy tourists fly from Mahe before sailing two hours to what Levy calls “holy land.”

“I kissed the ground,” he recalls. “It is one of the most untouched places in the world… maybe one of the five last places of Eden.”

But Eden is under siege.

Today, Qatari developers with alleged terror-funding links are eyeing Assomption for luxury tourism, a move Levy fears will devastate Aldabra by turning its logistical lifeline into a backdoor for exploitation. Green Prophet was contacted by the developer’s PR company but they have not returned with any answers to our questions. It’s been 2 weeks.

“They will kill Aldabra. No questions asked,” says Levy. “It is one of the most preserved areas of the world.”

“You Are a Scientist”

While in the Seychelles, Levy met Roselle Chapman, a British biologist who would become both his mentor and his love. It was she—and her supervisor, the renowned Seychelles-based turtle researcher Dr. Jeanne Mortimer—who first taught him to track, study, and live among turtles.

“She looked at my maps, my drawings, my charts… and said, ‘You are a researcher.’ That changed my life.”

Levy would spend up to 10 days at a time on Aldabra, and over all every visit for two to three months. Sleeping on the boat or near nesting beaches, diving with manta rays and sharks. He remembers it as “the best diving I ever had.”

His dates with Chapman? “They were at turtle nesting sites.”

From Paradise Lost to Hospital Founder

The boat company in the Seychelles went bankrupt–– the original plan was sailing to Micronesia with a documentary crew with only a brief stopover for drydock and maintenance before heading to Micronesia. He found himself in Ashkelon, Israel and started his Marine Biology undergrad degree in Michmoret as Roselle predicted he should, and then, a turtle washed up.

“It was a loggerhead with a hook deep in its throat,” he recalls. A vet removed the necrotic tissue, and Levy—now reporting the case to the authorities as required by law—caught the attention of Ze’ev Kulur, Israel’s chief turtle biologist on behalf of the National Nature and Parks Authority at the time.

He saved the turtle.

After demonstrating his experience in Israel and on Aldabra, Levy was encouraged to launch a formal turtle rescue initiative. In 1999, he founded what would become the only government-supported turtle hospital in the world—a marine rehabilitation facility with research credentials, surgical suites, and even prosthetic limbs and buoyancy stabilizers designed in-house.

“They are lifers,” Levy says of his breeding turtles, about 30 of them in a large pool swimming together. “They’ve only lived in captivity. I don’t believe they can adapt to live in the wild, but their being here in captivity is with a cause for their whole population, they will reproduce and their hatchlings will return to sea and revive the almost extinct population.”

His 30 baby turtle “children”, now over 20 years old, are given names like Moana, Stitch, and Pocahontas. “I call my human kids my second batch,” he says.

Sea Turtles Have No Borders

Levy has treated over 2,000 sea turtles from Israel, Gaza, and beyond. He sees victims of boat strikes, plastic entanglement, and most disturbingly, war and fishing trauma.

“The booms and the bangs… the turtles suffer,” he says. Explosions in Egypt’s Bardawil Lake, where fishermen still use blast fishing, are particularly devastating. “Soft tissue trauma, inner ear injuries. Shockwave trauma.”

He’s tracked turtles rehabilitated in Michmoret—16 tagged individuals—and most of them returned to these dangerous waters. He’s also seen evidence of dynamite fishing in Lebanon, confirming earlier reports by Green Prophet.

In countries nearby, suspicious people sometimes trap or catch birds, turtles and animals tagged by Israel, calling them spies of the Mossad. They are often, sadly, killed. 

According to Levy, turtle injuries are not always visible. Some are so weak they can no longer float or dive. For these cases, Levy has invented floating slings that suspend turtles partially in water, allowing them to heal without exhausting themselves.

Plastic straws, he says, are a red herring. “The real problem is the polypropylene feed sacks—20kg bags used in livestock farming. Turtles get caught in them and lose fins and many die. That straw video from Costa Rica? It’s not really true about the straws, and maybe he tried the best he could, but what’s killing turtles at sea is something else, Levy tells Green Prophet.

He’s written research papers on this phenomenon, citing feed bags for livestock from Eastern European countries that have made it to the sea. 

A Message from Eden

Levy’s work is both clinical and spiritual. A veterinarian scientist with a PhD, he’s published research on turtle rehabilitation and consults globally on marine conservation. But when asked about fear—of being alone on Aldabra, for instance—his answer is revealing:

“I’m more afraid of people than of animals.”

Though his collaboration with Gaza has decreased—some residents now eat turtles out of protein desperation—he emphasizes empathy. “I don’t judge. I understand.”

He also stresses the regional unity among turtle workers. “Despite the conflict, we work with our Arab neighbors. People who work with turtles are… cool.”

The Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center will open its breeding program to the public in September, offering hands-on education for children and adults. More than 600 volunteers already help guard nesting sites, relocate eggs to hatcheries, and release baby turtles back to sea.

“This is not just conservation,” Levy says. “It’s about showing that turtles have no borders.”

Assomption Island may seem far away—just a dot on a maritime chart near Mahe—but its fate is linked to our own. The ecological encroachment by luxury developers and the silent suffering of sea turtles in war zones should alarm anyone who cares about nature’s last strongholds.

Sign up for hatching tours and more at the Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center.

? Learn more: Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center
? Related: Green Prophet on Seychelles island development threatens Aldabra Atoll
? Take Action: Stop development at Assomption Island. Support the campaign at friendsofaldabra.org

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Reviving Gaza’s fishing sector hinges on restoring peace and safe access to the sea

When Hamas Palestinians attacked Israel they wouldn’t image this would lead to such a collapse of Gaza’s once thriving fishing sector. The situation could still be reversed quickly when peace is restored and fishers are granted safe access to fishing waters, along with the resumption of imports of essential fish production inputs and tools, says the UN’s FAO.

The impact of the ongoing escalation on the fishing sector is devastating, according to the UN. Gaza’s average daily catch between October 2023 to April 2024 dropped to just 7.3 percent of 2022 levels, causing a $17.5 million production loss.

The destruction of Gaza’s two main aquaculture farms, along with the hatchery facility, has also left the sector unable to produce alternative aquatic foods through aquaculture. According to one assessment, before the conflict over 6 000 individuals in Gaza, including 4,200 registered fishers and boat owners, relied on fishing as their main income. The sector supported around 110,000 people.

North of Wadi Gaza, which separates the northern and southern parts of the Strip, the Port of Gaza City has been severely damaged, with most fishing boats destroyed.

The damage to  Gaza’s fishing sector has exacerbated an already dire food security crisis. Fish, once a vital source of protein and other essential nutrients for Gazans, is now nearly unavailable. And with Hamas holding food stocks hostage, the people are at wit’s end.

“In Gaza’s fishing areas now lie broken boats, torn nets, and ruined infrastructure, standing in stark contrast to the once-vibrant industry that supported thousands of fishers for generations,” said the FAO Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol. It is not clear if she was there personally.

“For Gazans, the sea was not just a source of food, but a source of livelihood and identity. FAO can assist to help rebuild Gaza’s fishing industry, but for this to happen peace must first be established and fishers must be allowed to operate their boats and cast their nets without fear of harm,” she added.   

Ciro Fiorillo, Head of the FAO Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, stated, “FAO is ready to restart projects, replenish damaged boats and equipment, and inject emergency funds as soon as these key fishing inputs for production are allowed to enter the Strip, a sustained ceasefire is in place, and access to the sea is restored.

“This will help Gazan fishers resume their activities, revitalize livelihoods, contribute to economic recovery, and restore dignity to the people of Gaza.”

Before the escalation of hostilities, FAO supported over 4,000 Gazan fishers, improving food security, safety, and sustainability. Key initiatives like the marine cage project and enhanced fish stock monitoring, helped to establish inland fish farms, enhanced fishers’ skills, shared best practices, and supplied essential cold chain resources, including solar panels, ensuring a more resilient food source for Gaza.

Despite all the billions in aid given to Gaza, most of it was used to build tunnels and bombs and the fishing industry on its own could not survive without outside help, which raises an eye. How we can help Gazans?

All images supplied by the UN. December 2024. Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.

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A pasture system in Andorra, hay milk in Austria, areas growing chestnuts, white ginger and waxberries in China, flood-spreading gardens and a walnut cultivating region in Iran and an all-female fishery in the Republic of Korea –– these are all among the latest agricultural systems to be recognized by a UN group aiming to preserve and encourage traditional farming and fishing systems around the world. It’s like UNESCO but for food. The designation may help protect and fund such traditional cultures, but the UN groups have very little control in protecting systems, ecosystems and culture around the world.

We understood this when UNESCO heritage sites like Jonah’s tomb (from Jonah and the Whale in the Bible) were blown up in 2104 by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Terrorists went from town to town wiping out Jewish, Christian and other non-Sunni Muslim religious and cultural sites in 2014 and 2015, videotaping their exploits the way in a similar fashion to the Palestinians who joined the Hamas raid on October 7, did to Israelis and foreigners in kibbutzes and at the Supernova dance party. These people will never return and the heritage sites lost forever in the name of extremism.

But the UN says that by recognizing and supporting agricultural systems, this know-how can be passed down from generation to generation, alleviating poverty and giving people a better chance of avoiding a life in violence. The Slow Food movement is doing something in Europe. Read about the Slow Cheese Winners of the World.

Like UNESCO heritage sites, the UN is recognizing sites of agricultural significance. They are called Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) – and are part of a new database created by the UN to recognize and support culturally-rich agricultural practices around the world.

The systems, formally designated during a meeting of the GIAHS Scientific Advisory Group taking place in Rome from November 7 to 10 included the first ones to be approved from Andorra and Austria. Meanwhile, additional sites in China, Iran and the Republic of Korea highlight the key role played by Asia’s traditional agricultural practices in food security and combating climate change and biodiversity loss.

Under the flagship programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the selection criteria stipulate that sites must be of global importance, have value as a public good, supporting food and livelihood security, agro-biodiversity, sustainable knowledge systems and practices, social values and culture as well as outstanding landscapes.

“Now over 20 years strong, GIAHS has proven to be a great model for showcasing longstanding practices to render agrifood systems more resilient to climate change,” said Maria Helena Semedo from the FAO.

With the newest addition to the global agricultural heritage systems list, FAO’s worldwide agricultural heritage network now consists of 86 systems in 26 countries around the globe.

Pasture systems in Andorra

The subalpine and supraforestal pastures of Andorra reflect the longstanding agropastoral system developed in this tiny landlocked country which lies almost 2,000 metres above sea level on average in the Pyrenees mountains. The local population has combined spontaneous pastures and cultivated feeding. This supports the production of livestock, bovines, ovines, horses, on free-range and extensive grazing, which can be traded for other goods and food with the neighbouring regions.

It is based on common lands and shared pastures, with the animals’ owners paying a shepherd or taking turns to protect herds from predators, freeing the rest of the farmers for other tasks.

Hay milk in Austria

The production of hay milk, from cattle fed on fresh grass and hay rather than fermented fodder, is as old as the keeping of dairy animals in Europe. Using hay as a nutrient-rich winter feed helps get ruminants through the vegetation-less cold season, thus ensuring the livelihood of farming families.

Hay milk used to make up most of Austria’s milk production but now it accounts for only 15 percent. Austria’s 6,500 hay milk farmers and 60 major processors have come together in the ARGE Heumilch Österreich community. It aims to preserve hay farming and communicate the benefits of this sustainable method so that a fair milk producer price can be obtained in the marketplace.

Chestnut, White Ginger and Waxberry heartlands in China

The Kuancheng Traditional Chestnut Eco-Planting System in northern China’s Hebei Province is located in one of the first and most important areas in China to cultivate chestnuts, dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 CE). A traditional cultivation system with chestnuts as the core together with other crops, medicinal materials, and poultry industries was gradually established.

It forms an important part of the global chestnut variety resource bank and it is rich in cultural content, respecting nature and based on a form of social organisation that promotes agricultural production.

The Tongling White Ginger Plantation System forms an important part of Southern China’s ginger planting area. There are 17 varieties of ginger in the Tongling White Ginger Plantation System, and white ginger is the main variety. Semi-late rice is the main crop for rice cultivation in Tongling, with fewer early-season and late rice varieties. There are 31 main varieties of rice.

Tongling has developed key techniques for ginger plantation including ginger pavilions for seed-preserving and germination-accelerating. There are many processing recipes dating back over nearly 1,000 years such as Salt-pickled Ginger, Sauced Ginger, Sweet-and-Sour Ginger, and Sugared Ginger.

The Xianju Ancient Chinese Waxberry Composite System in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province is in an area where the cultivation of these fruit trees dates back more than 1,600 years, with many villagers tending them in combination with tea, chickens and bees. There are 100,000 farmers in the GIAHS site, of whom 26,000 are engaged in waxberry cultivation, composite planting and breeding, and other related industries.

The site has accumulated a large number of ancient waxberry genetic resources with diverse types and rich varieties. In May 2015, China’s first county-level biodiversity conservation action plan was released by the local government of Xianju County.

Flood-spreading gardens and walnut cultivation in Iran

The traditional Gardens of Qazvin, northwest of Iran’s capital Tehran, are a flood-spreading system that dates back thousands of years. Situated in the foothills of the Alborz ranges, the creation of the gardens surrounding the city has protected its inhabitants from floods adapting to and taking advantage of the watershed to produce nuts and local delicacies.

By capturing, redirecting and sharing floodwaters, local communities have been able to cultivate and grow fruits all around Qazvin. Today, the system provides food and employment opportunities for people but also cools the temperature of the city and serves to replenish groundwater tables.

The Traditional Walnut Agricultural System in Tuyserkan, Iran is known not just for its walnut orchards but also for its delicacies as well as its landscapes and historical monuments.  Based on family-farming, the cultivation of walnuts supports the livelihoods of a major part of the households in the area.

This cultivation is mainly developed in valleys and is irrigated using water canals designed at different levels and fed mainly by rivers and springs as well as Qanats.  Among the local practices is irrigating walnut trees in the cold and frost season, which farmers believe helps to eliminate pests and diseases.

Unique all-female se women fisheries in the Republic of Korea

The Jeju haenyeo fishing practice is a traditional subsistence fishing system predominantly carried out by women. The Haenyeo” (“sea women” in Korean) dive underwater without the aid of breathing apparatus and collect seafood such as disk abalone, horned turban, and sea mustard. They have long been engaged in a half-farming and half-fishery lifestyle.

This system is believed to be the sole fishery globally that is managed solely by women. Its primary purpose is to serve as a source of household sustenance rather than engaging in commercial fishing.The diving skills and traditional wisdom of Jeju haenyeo represent a living social system that has been listed as an intangible world heritage by UNESCO.

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The Mediterranean Sea is being invaded by hundreds of species of fish, jellyfish, prawns and other marine species from outside the region. This happens when we create artificial waterways like the Suez Canal or when ships release bilge water into new territories. According to a new United Nations report (we covered the last one in 2018 here) there are now more than one thousand non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. 

The waters we love may never be the same. And these invaders are pushing out native species causing fishermen to adjust.

It’s already impossible to go swimming on the beaches of Gaza, Tel Aviv, or Beirut in July when the jellyfish that came from the Red Sea invade. What’s next?

Your favorite fish might go extinct

Over half of the invaders have established permanent populations and are spreading, causing concern about the threat they pose to marine ecosystems and local fishing communities, says a United Nations group called the FAO. 

“Climate change and human activities have had a profound impact on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea,” says Stefano Lelli, a fishery expert for the eastern Mediterranean working for the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean: “We have witnessed a swift and significant alteration of marine ecosystems, and this has led to several impacts on local communities’ livelihoods. In the coming years, we expect the number of non-indigenous species to continue rising. 

This regional fisheries management body, established by FAO, is leading efforts to promote sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It works with fishers, conservationists, scientists and government authorities to better understand the rise in non-indigenous species and help countries improve their mitigation and management measures. 

How Climate change is making the Mediterranean Sea Tropical

The Mediterranean Sea is undergoing a “tropicalization” process as water temperatures rise, largely due to climate change. In addition, many species have migrated via well-travelled shipping routes such as the Strait of Gibraltar or the Suez Canal, often attached to the hull of ships or inside them in the ballast waters.

Other species, such as the Pacific cupped oyster and the Japanese carpet shell, were introduced for aquaculture during the 1960s and 1970s and have since escaped and colonized Mediterranean ecosystems. 

Once established, non-indigenous (or non-native) species can outcompete native ones and alter their surrounding ecosystems, with potential economic implications for fisheries and tourism or even human health.

What is an invasive species? 

Non-indigenous species (NIS) are called invasive when they cause either ecological, economical damage, or pose a threat to human health. Marine invasive species can pose major threats to biodiversity by altering community structure and function, and by modifying ecosystem processes, which can have long-lasting ecological and economic consequences

For example, six poisonous and venomous non-indigenous fish species, such as pufferfish (pictured above), lionfish and several jellyfish species, are now present in the eastern Mediterranean and can be toxic to humans if touched or ingested. 

Invasive species pose threats to either human health or inflict ecological and/or economic damage. The silver-cheeked toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus), a Lessepsian species, is one of the most harmful species in the Mediterranean Sea, because of its potent neurotoxin, impacts on marine biodiversity, and the increased costs and labor they inflict on fishers. It was first reported in Turkey in 2003, but it’s been sighted as washing up on beaches in Israel, Turkey and Greece.

Since the catch and consumption of this pufferfish is prohibited by almost all countries bordering the Mediterranean, they have now expanded into the entire Mediterranean and Black Sea. Read a scientific report on them here.

Regions of concern listed in the report include Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Turkey. 

Turning a threat into an opportunity 

Fishers all over the region have been affected by this trend. However, with support, they are finding new ways to turn these invasions into opportunities.  

In southwest Turkey, where invasive species can account for 80 percent of the catch in some areas, fishers are gradually creating new consumer and export markets for species like lionfish, urchins and Randall’s seabream.  

Lebanon is also training fishers to capture non-indigenous species, encouraging consumers to try them. “Red Sea goatfish and lionfish are some examples of non-indigenous species becoming a source of income in Lebanon,” says Manal Nader, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of Environment at the University of Balamand in Lebanon.  

In Tunisia, two non-indigenous species of blue crabs, which were threatening traditional fishing, were turned into a lucrative business when the FAO and the Tunisian Government helped connect fishers to new markets. We wrote about the blue crabs here. The same is happening in Spain and other parts of the Mediterranean, triggering  research programmes to manage these species.  

Protecting native species of fish

“International and regional cooperation as well as concerted action are needed to tackle non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean and Black Sea,” says Bayram Öztürk, author of the GFCM’s study on non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean (links to PDF).

“Needless to say, the impacts of non-indigenous species need to be monitored by all countries in the region. Once a species is introduced, it may be too late to eradicate.” 

We covered a similar FAO report in 2018. See how they compare.

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“It eats everything, leaves nothing and reproduces very quickly,” laments Mouradh, a fisherman from the Tunisian islands of Kerkennah. For the country’s fishers, the blue crabs that were being hauled out of the water, tangled up in their broken nets, were a disaster.

An invasive species introduced into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, the blue crab threatened the artisanal fishing techniques used along the Tunisian coastline, specifically damaging the gillnets and traps used in the Charfia (a traditional, fixed fishery system that blocks the path of fish and leads them to traps). With their sharp shells and claws, blue crabs ruin these fishing nets and feed on other fish species also caught in the nets or traps.

Blue crabs were first found off the Tunisian coast in 1993. By 2014, they began proliferating massively, causing significant damage to the coastal artisanal fishing sector, especially in the Gulf of Gabès in southeast Tunisia, where, during the high season, the blue crab represented more than 70 percent of the catch off this Mediterranean gulf.

These predatory crabs compete with indigenous species for space and food. They feed on all other species of fish, and its only natural predator, the octopus, is not enough to limit its spread. By disturbing the natural ecosystems, the blue crab has also negatively affected the yields of Tunisian women clam collectors, who were supported by FAO to improve their household incomes

At the same time, this blue crab is the fifth most popular crab in the world market. It is especially sought out in the Asian, United States and Australian markets where it is featured on the menus of many restaurants.

Seeing the potential of turning this foe into a friend, FAO and the Tunisian government launched training sessions for the fishers in this region. Through the “Strengthening Governance and Development of Fisheries in Tunisia” project, FAO trained 90 fishers in Djerba, Gabès and Kerkennah.

Fishers received information sessions on the benefits of the blue crab and 1 500 multipurpose traps to allow them to catch the crab more easily. During FAO’s practical, hands-on training sessions, the fishers were able to compare the effectiveness of these large, mesh net traps against the traditional cylindrical crab pots.

In collaboration with Tunisian marine research center, the National Institute of Science and Technology of the Sea, FAO also produced a practical manual in French on  blue crab fishing with multipurpose traps. It specifically addresses small-scale fishers, teaching them best practices in catching blue crabs.

Beyond the advancement of fishing techniques in Tunisia, FAO has assisted the government in developing a complete value chain within this niche market. Good governance of fishing, that allows fishers to catch crabs of good quality while respecting the environment, has facilitated the marketing of the blue crab locally and internationally.

The first blue crab processing and marketing plant for the Asian market, created by the government in 2019 in the Kerkennah islands, triggered a mini economic boom in the area with 50 new jobs for plant technicians.

Valerio Crespi, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Officer explains, “This successful plant not only allowed fishers to diversify their sources of income, it also added value to an invasive species.”

The exports of blue crab during the month of May 2021 rose significantly, reaching 2 090.9 tons with a value of USD 7.2 million (about 19.6 million Tunisian dinars), while exports for the same period in 2020 was 796.1 tons with a value of USD 3.1 million (or 8.6 million dinars).

Private sector investments in blue crab processing plants have gone from simple packaging and freezing raw crabs to preparing cooked products in order to expand to markets in Asia, Italy, Spain and the Americas. Some food manufacturing plants in Zarzis are considering including cooked crab as one of their products to enter other markets. In fact, even in Tunisia where crab has never been a traditional dish or ingredient in cooking, this product is starting to appear on local menus due to its new availability in markets.

Photos: Left/top: The blue crab was initially a disaster for fishers, ruining nets and traditional fishing techniques. ©FAO/Valerio Crespi Right/bottom: FAO offered training and better traps to Tunisian fishers to take advantage of this new type of catch. Though not well-known locally, blue crab is very popular in other markets. ©FAO/Valerio Crespi

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Globally, conflict between recovering seal and sea lion populations and fishing communities has been escalating. This new research presents a unique overview of this conflict, particularly from the fishers’ perspective, and proposes solutions that will be relevant to many fishing communities around the world. Remember the Yatam Havuz from Turkey who was the biggest killer of seals and seal lions? His words. Thankfully his killing spree hasn’t decimated the world’s populations of seals and sea lions and they are bouncing back. 

But there is one problem: the fishermen.

In one part of South America, specifically Peru and Chile, marine mammals have been protected since the mid-20^th century. Conservation policies have mostly been successful and over the last thirty years marine mammal populations – specifically those of sea lions and seals – have recovered. However, this recovery means that they are coming into contact with local fishers. A new study from Oxford found:

• Nearly 9 out of 10 fishers have a negative impression of sea lions.
• Fishers report that on average sea lions reduce their catch and income by over 50%. 
• While it’s illegal for sea lions and seals to be killed, this is happening regularly with over 70% of fishers admitting that sea lions are being killed to defend catches.
• Fishers’ overwhelming concern is that sea lion populations are now too large. 

To manage this conflict, there’s a need to balance the competing objectives of wildlife conservation with protection for local communities. There’s still concern about sea lion and seal populations because of how recently they’ve recovered, but small-scale fisheries are struggling, and fishers are often earning less than the minimum wage.

The international community needs to incorporate the needs and opinions of fishers in the global dialogue, including considering if protecting human welfare could involve reducing protection for marine mammals. 

‘If the global community is committed to a post-2020 deal for nature and people where improvements to people’s wellbeing and nature conservation are both fulfilled – the elusive ‘win-win’ – then governments and scientists must engage with these “messy” local conflicts that repeat across the globe but resist high-level simplification.’ Professor Katrina Davis.

Sea lions and seals eat the same fish targeted by fisheries, so they’re in competition for resources, and it’s not uncommon for fishers to catch fish that have already been ‘nibbled’ by the marine mammals. They can also be accidentally caught in fishing nets and break them, meaning that the fisheries must pay to replace equipment. 

By understanding fishers’ motivations and perceptions we can develop more effective managerial solutions to the fisheries. Including managing sea lion populations, providing financial compensation for catch losses and gear damage, training programs, and shifting focusing from fishing to eco-tourism. 

Lead author Professor Katrina Davis says, “A tricky balance must be met between ensuring the future viability of marine mammal populations and ensuring that the livelihoods of small-scale fishers are protected. Fishers perceive that they are suffering large catch and income losses because of sea lions—and it’s these perceptions that we have to manage when we’re developing policy solutions.”

Moving forward, researchers plan to investigate the impact of culls on these interactions, whether this would be viable without harming population levels, and whether it would curb aggression towards marine mammals.  

More Animal Rights Abuses:
7 of the Saddest Wildlife Stories from the Middle East
1 Million Migrating Songbirds Killed for a Pickled Dish in Cyprus
Kuwaiti Kills Wolf and Then Shows Off

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Fishing with grenades might sound like a strange way to have fun, but it is common practice in Afghanistan, Qasim Hamayoun, an official with the National Environmental Protection Agency, told the paper.

Sometimes people will use electricity to stun their dinner – I’ve seen men fish with live wires in remote Vietnamese villages, so this crude technique is not restricted to Afghanistan.

The policemen were fishing on one side of the Larkhab River in Northern Afghanistan when one of them, the son of a powerful warlord, threw a grenade that landed amid a group of children who were playing 50 yards away – on the opposite bank.

Six boys were killed immediately and another boy and a girl were wounded.

“General Andarabi, reached by telephone, confirmed that his son was being held in connection with the episode, but maintained that the children had accidentally detonated a piece of unexploded ordinance, and that his son was not on duty at the time,” writes Rod Nordland.

The Mayor, meanwhile, said the children were killed “like birds.”

In Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East, that’s no idle comment. Birds (and other wildlife like wolves and antelope) are killed indiscriminately – sometimes as many as one million – for either a delicacy, in the former’s case, or even natural viagra.

And – as is true in Baghlan Province, where the environmental protection agency has been unable to persuade the local populace to stop using grenades and rockets to fish – nobody is serious enough to police the issue.

General Andarabi has promised that his son will be attended to in accordance with the law of Afghanistan, and that he will support whatever the government deems necessary.

::NY Times

Map of Afghanistan, Shutterstock

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Fishing is a time-honored Istanbul tradition. But to catch and sell fish, one must have a license nowadays. That doesn’t stop some from illegally trawling for fish in the Bosphorus, or the two seas that sandwich Istanbul. Today, one such trawler nearly took the life of a man who’s been campaigning against illegal fishing for years.

The attacker, reportedly from a trawling gang, came to a teahouse where Aslan was sitting and asked him to come outside so they could talk. They argued for a few minutes about Aslan’s opposition to trawling. Then the man pulled a gun on him, and fired — aiming to kill.

Two months previously, Aslan, who is head of a union of fishery associations, issued a report effectively declaring war against illegal fishermen. After this opening shot, he began to receive threats from some members of a trawling gang, culminating in the shooting at the teahouse.

The marine police and the coastguard, meanwhile, seem to have done little to help solve the proliferation of illegal fishermen in Istanbul’s waterways and seas.

Defne Koryürek is an environmental activist who is prominent in Turkey’s Slow Food movement as well as being known for helping fight against illegal fishing. According to facts she shared with Turkish media, the number of illegal trawlers in Istanbul has increased by 600 percent over the past year, from 50 to 300.

Koryürek has called on Turkey’s Interior Ministry to help solve the problem, which she says amounts to “banditry”. Unfortunately, as the trawlers become wealthier, they’ll only find it easier to pay fines or bribes to the officials who catch them.

:: Hurriyet Daily News

Read more about poaching in the Middle East:

Crazy Kuwaitis Use Shotguns To Kill 12 Flamingos
1 Million Migrating Songbirds Are Killed For Pickled Dish In Cyprus
Thai Migrant Workers Poach Wildlife For Food In Israel

Image via Yerel Gundem

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Catching wild fish in the sea is now threatening to deplete many fish species from the world’s seas and oceans, including illegal tuna fishing in the Mediterranean Sea. With world population figures now topping 7 billion, an increasing demand is being made for fresh fish as a source of protein. This demand has resulted in an increase in fish farming, or aquaculture both in the oceans and seas themselves and in salt and fresh water ponds on dry land.

Aquaculture has grown significantly in North and South America, Europe, and in the Far East; particularly in Asian countries such as Thailand and China. Countries such as China grow carp; with China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India growing  shrimps and prawns. Norway and Chile are growing salmon in aquaculture projects as well. These projects were noted  recently in a news report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The report sent to Green Prophet highlights the importance of aquaculture in supplementing the world’s growing demand for protein, especially fish.

Netting high protein

The high protein content of fish, plus nutrition supplements such as Omega 3 fatty acids are vital to health and help prevent conditions of malnutrition, increased brain function, and deterrents of heart disease and cancers.

Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Israel, and Egypt, especially fresh water species like Tilapia, known as “musht” in Arabic, is helping countries like Egypt feed its growing population.

An FAO report entitled World Aquaculture Growth 2010  goes into detail regarding various aquaculture projects being carried out by countries all over the world. The report adds that:

“Achieving the global aquaculture sector’s long-term goal of economic, social and environmental sustainability depends primarily on continued commitments by governments to provide and support a good governance framework for the sector.”

Even areas where land availability is at a minimum, such as population dense Gaza, are also engaged in aquaculture. In Gaza, a small aquaculture project is being carried out by a Gaza marine engineer and sea captain, Sohail Ekhail who has been trying to provide his fellow Palestinians with nourishing fish by operating a fish farm on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Ekhail’s fish farm

While growing fish in the sea may cause some damage to coral and other marine habitations, as occurred with a fish farm in the Red Sea, off Israel’s coastal city of Eilat, the ultimate solution is growing fish in ponds instead of in the sea.

Or in your own tanks inside apartment buildings, like one Israeli entrepeneur has proposed.

With this in mind, the future of aquaculture looks bright, and will help to feed and nourish an increasing world population.

::FAO

Read more on aquaculture and related issues:

Accelerating decline of world oceans: Why it matters for the Middle East

Seaside, Gaza Fish Farmers Grow Own Fish

Fish Farming Isn’t so Evil After All

Eilat Fish Cages: Out of the Frying and into Ashdod harbor

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