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- Fuel oil business: the State Duma proposes to limit fishing in the Black and Azov Seas
Fuel oil business: the State Duma proposes to limit fishing in the Black and Azov Seas
The State Duma has asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture to limit the catch of fish and seafood in the Azov and Black Seas, as well as to control their sale to Russians. The appeal to the heads of departments was sent by the deputy speaker of the State Duma Boris Chernyshov. Despite the pollution of the seas after the fuel oil spill, production continues, although oil products are still thrown ashore. Concern about the situation is also expressed in the specialized committees of the State Duma. Representatives of the fishing business support the strengthening of control over products and already predict serious losses. How much is caught in the Black and Azov Seas and whether Russia will be able to give up this fish - in the material "Izvestia".
Are fish and seafood from the Black and Azov Seas dangerous?
Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Boris Chernyshov asked the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Natural Resources to introduce a temporary restriction on fishing and seafood in the Azov and Black Seas. These products may be unsafe for the health of Russians after the consequences of the crash of two tankers with fuel oil in the Kerch Strait. The documents addressed to the heads of departments Oksana Lut and Alexander Kozlov were familiarized with "Izvestia".
In them, the deputy also proposes to exclude the possibility of selling such fish products to protect citizens from the risks of poisoning, noting that it is necessary to wait for scientific conclusions on their safety.
Tankers "Volgoneft-212" and "Volgoneft-239" crashed during a strong storm in the Kerch Strait on December 15. As a result of the accident, about 40% of fuel oil leaked out of them. Two days later, by the morning of December 17, the oil products reached the shores of Anapa and Temryuksky district, and then Crimea. On December 26, a federal emergency was declared. On January 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the fuel oil spill in the Black Sea one of the most serious environmental challenges for the country in recent years. He asked the head of the Emergencies Ministry, Alexander Kurenkov, to report on the situation and what should be "done in the near future to minimize the consequences of this environmental incident." The president also criticized the relevant agencies for insufficient efforts to eliminate fuel oil spills.
"Seafood, fish, shellfish are capable of accumulating toxic substances in their bodies, which makes it dangerous to eat them if their waters have been polluted. Especially vulnerable are bivalves, which retain polluting elements throughout their lives. Given these facts, it is necessary to take measures to prevent the distribution of products that may pose a threat to human health," Boris Chernyshov emphasizes in his letters to the agencies.
He also proposed to strengthen control over the quality of seafood coming to retail chains, as well as to organize information work with the population about the possible dangers of consuming products from the zones of environmental accidents.
- The technogenic disaster in the Kerch Strait has dealt a serious blow to the ecosystem and jeopardized the health of people, both those who live there and those who regularly buy domestic fish and seafood. In this regard, it is necessary to take measures to protect the population," the deputy told Izvestia.
He is supported by the State Duma committees on health protection and agrarian issues.
- The situation should be assessed by experts from Rospotrebnadzor and Rosrybolovstvo. All caught fish and seafood should be tested. If they contain harmful substances and toxins, they should certainly not end up on store shelves and in restaurants. And Russians themselves should realize that such products are now unsafe," Sergey Leonov, head of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, told Izvestia.
Now the authorities need to take all possible measures to prevent harm to the health of citizens, said the head of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Affairs Vladimir Kashin.
- It is necessary to seriously punish those who allowed these overloaded and old ships to go to sea, which should have been banned 15 years ago. Now we need to minimize the environmental consequences," the deputy told Izvestia.
The Ministry of Natural Resources told Izvestia that the issues of fish catching due to the fuel oil spill do not fall within the competence of the ministry and advised to contact the Federal Agency for Fishery.
- Rosrybolovstvo and the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography continue to monitor the situation. Inspectors of the Azov-Black Sea territorial administration of Rosrybolovstvo constantly monitor the spread of fuel oil. The release of oil products was also recorded in the Saksky district and Yevpatoria, specialists were promptly sent there," the federal agency, subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture, told Izvestia.
They also noted that Rosrybolovstvo together with the institute is working on assessing the damage caused to aquatic biological resources.
"Izvestia" also sent requests to Rosprirodnadzor and the All-Russian Association of Fishery Enterprises, Entrepreneurs and Exporters to comment on the situation.
What is the scale of the consequences of the fuel oil spill
Given that the consequences of the disaster will not be eliminated immediately, there will be deposits of fuel oil in the sea, so it is necessary to organize constant monitoring of algae, fish and invertebrates, Alexander Fomin, executive director of the Fish Association, told Izvestia.
- If dangerous and toxic substances are detected, it is necessary to suspend fishing until the situation changes," the business representative explained.
At the same time, he said, compared to the entire volume of fish production in Russia, the share of the Black and Azov Seas does not play a special role.
According to Rosrybolovstvo, the total volume of aquatic biological resources caught from January to October 2024 amounted to 4.13 million tons, while the Azov-Black Sea basin accounted for 26.7 thousand tons. This is almost 6.6 thousand tons less than in 2023.
In these seas there are such species as hamsa, beluga, sturgeon, starred sturgeon, herring, herring, sprat, tulka, mullet, mullet, mullet, mackerel, mackerel, flounder, pelamid and tuna. If we talk about seafood, then first of all we are talking about mussels and rapans. In addition, there are mussel and oyster farms on the Black Sea coast.
Sergey Kulik, the director of one of such farms in Crimea, told Izvestia that it is difficult to estimate the scale of the ecological catastrophe, but the fishing business will incur heavy losses.
- Fish are migratory inhabitants that move in different water columns. So, unfortunately, it has certainly suffered. The fuel oil that spilled out is a very heavy fraction, and there is no experience in the world yet in cleaning the sea of it. How long it will wash out, no one knows yet. The most important thing is that below 15 degrees this fuel oil becomes like tar, and above that it starts to heat up and turn into a film," the businessman explained.
According to him, so far there is no strengthening of requirements for businesses to check fish products and seafood, but, apparently, it will be necessary to check every batch, which may also affect profitability - shellfish without water live for three or four days and the same amount of time it takes to check. At the same time, the businessman agreesthat such products may be unsafe and may even cause cancer.
