In a recent Gulf News article, ‘Dead Fish Cleared from Fujairah Beaches’ on 5 April 2007, the head of the Fujairah Municipality was swift to dismiss suggestions of an environmental cause, insisting it was due to bad fishing practices. The same report quoted a Fujairah Municipality worker saying he had never seen the long carpets of dead fish in his 30 years of service in Fujairah and earlier Gulf News reports have written about the scarcity of fish, making it even more surprising that fishermen would waste their catch.I reported on my web site, in an article entitled, Extra Oily Fish in Fujairah (dated 3 April 2007) not only the presence of large numbers of small fish but the sight of many large fish washed up on a different beach, (north of the Hilton Hotel) where oil was clearly visible. This article was followed up the next day with another posting entitled, Further Fish Deaths in Fujairah.
It is important to note that the Khaleej Times today cites many reports by fishermen and residents of the presence of oil in the waters further south, in an article entitled, ‘Probe Ordered Into Kalba Beach Oil Slick’.
A similar, independent probe should be extended to all the Fujairah beaches, for the sake of the fishing and tourism industries, the health of Fujairah fish consumers and the preservation of the marine life.
Geoff Pound
Image: One of the many victims.
