Due to the receding waters, more and more people are leaving fishing to pursue work in other industries — even leaving for other regions. This is confirmed by the many abandoned boats along the shore.
Zaualkhan Ermakhanov, a local ichthyologist, is concerned that the Little Aral Sea could become a dead sea. After all, the salinity has increased as the flow of water from the Syr Darya has decreased. Currently, the amount of salt per liter of seawater is 13 grams. If the salinity of the water exceeds 16 grams, the fish in the sea will die off.
“The native fish of the Aral spawned at an average water salinity of 10 grams. If a liter of seawater contains more than 10 grams of salt, it will be difficult for fish to spawn. Even if they do spawn, the eggs will die. We’ve been noticing this lately. The salinity of seawater is now 13 grams. That’s why the fishermen are worried,” Ermakhanov said.
“Without additional water from the Syr Darya River flowing into the Little Aral Sea, the fish will not survive,” he adds.
Experts warn that if the problem of the Little Aral Sea is not urgently tackled it will cause irreparable damage to nature and humanity.
According to official data, out of 12 cubic kilometers of water annually entering the Kyzylorda region, only three cubic kilometers flow into the Little Aral Sea. Ermakhanov doubts the water volume indicated in the data actually flows into the sea.
According to Ermakhanov, Kazakhstan doesn’t use its river water efficiently. According to his calculations, the Little Aral Sea will return to its previous state in five to six years if it receives at least six cubic kilometers of water per year.
Water levels in the Aral Sea have been falling rapidly since the 1960s. This is due to several coastal states irrigating fields from the two main rivers flowing into the Aral Sea, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, which have led to environmental disasters. Eventually, the sea split into four lakes: the Little Aral (the North Aral Sea), the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea, and the smaller Barsakelmes Lake.
By 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the western edge. Now there is no Aral Sea; it is a dead sea. Experts are concerned that the Little Aral could be next.
On September 15, a meeting of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea was held in Tajikistan. The issue of restoring the disappearing sea and ensuring that rivers continue to flow into it was discussed.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the creation of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, whose members are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The presidents of those countries hold a summit every three years, though there’s no mention of how much money has been allocated to the fund or where and how it is spent. Previously, experts agreed that the funds were not enough to solve water shortages and environmental problems in the region.
For the fishermen who depend on the water for their livelihoods, the foot-dragging by politicians may come too late to salvage what’s left of the Little Aral Sea.