Omar Ziyad and those around him gaze at the palm orchards in their village in central Iraq, a once fertile field that was transformed into a dry land after authorities filled it to conserve water and combat the increasing drought.
For the fourth consecutive year, Iraq, ranked fifth among the countries most affected by climate change according to the United Nations, faces a severe drought, compelling the government to struggle to provide drinking and irrigation water.
To preserve what remains of water reserves, authorities are implementing radical regulations on certain uses, particularly those that have been tolerated or illegal in the past.
As part of this effort, a campaign was launched at the end of May to close unlicensed fish farms.
This affected the seven ponds owned by 33-year-old Omar Ziyad and his family's farm in the village of Albu Mustafa, as officials from the Ministry of Water Resources filled them due to the lack of proper permits.
The young man, who is also a teacher, said, "I have been working in fish farming for twenty years with my father and seven siblings."
Ziyad and his siblings used to breed 50,000 fish in the family ponds, generating monthly revenues ranging from $1,300 to $2,600. They used to breed carp fish, which are used to prepare the famous "masquf" dish in Iraq.
He added, "We used to sell fish at a low price in the local market. But now, after fish farms were closed, prices have skyrocketed in the market, reaching 8,000 dinars per kilogram, which is double the previous price."
From a high point, the dried-out lands appear clustered and bordered by rural roads, and occasionally, the mundane scene is broken by a single water basin that has escaped the government's intervention.
Ziyad said, "There used to be 80 fish lakes in our area that supported about 1,500 families. Only five ponds have remained, and their owners held the proper licenses."
In contrast, Abdullah Samah, Ziyad's cousin, who is also a fish farmer, is calling on the authorities to "find alternatives" for those who lost their livelihoods. The thirty-year-old believes that the government's measures "have not solved the water problem." He added, "Our ponds were dried out, but if you ask people in southern regions, they say they did not receive any water."
The water crisis in Iraq, with a population of 43 million, is an urgent issue, as river levels have decreased significantly, especially due to dams built by Turkey and Iran on the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, according to authorities.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Water Resources, Khaled Shammal, said, "The strategic water reserves in Iraq are currently at their lowest since the beginning of the 20th century."
He acknowledged that, in addition to geopolitical factors and declining rainfall rates, the problem is also internal, particularly "irrigation and agricultural practices" that consume a large amount of water.
He added, "We are still living in a water abundance culture, and we have not transitioned to a water scarcity culture and rationalization of consumption."
He explained that the abandoned fish ponds contributed to an increase in the exposed area to evaporation and an increase in water seepage and environmental pollution.
About half of the 5,000 unlicensed ponds that existed in Iraq have been closed, according to Shammal, who criticized the presence of "unlicensed fish ponds that do not pay taxes, fees, or guarantees," considering their closure a national duty.
Despite supporting the closure of illegal ponds, Ayad Al-Talibi, the head of the Association of Fishermen and Fish Breeders in Iraq, wondered during an interview on the government's "Al-Ikhbariya" channel, "Was the water that was used for fish farming invested?". He reminded that "Iraq used to produce 900,000 to one million tons of fish annually," but after the government campaign, production has dropped to 190,000 tons.
He warned that the fish sector employed two million people and said, "All of these families will migrate to the cities."
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Water Resources indicated that authorities may allow "ponds or floating cages along the river path" for fish farming, as they consume less water.
In southern Iraq, the high salinity of water poses a real challenge for fishermen in the Shatt al-Arab, the river where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet before flowing into the Gulf.
Every summer, the flow of fresh water from the north decreases, while the salty seawater rises, disrupting the ecosystem.
This situation has added to the suffering of Khudair Abboud, a 71-year-old fisherman, who, while checking his nets on his boat near the riverbank, remembers that in the past, "different types of fish used to reach us, but after the salty water arrived, they disappeared; nothing was left."
Today, he earns about 10,000 dinars ($7) from his catch, but he says, "This is not enough; I have a family to support."
He mentioned that many "fishermen have left this profession and turned to other jobs, such as construction," adding, "only a few of us, mainly the elderly, are still fishing."
AFP