Gennadiy Marushevsky "Directory of Azov-Black sea coastal wetlands"

The Black and Azov Seas are almost completely enclosed waterbodies bordered by six countries: Bulgaria,
Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The Black Sea has an area of 422,000 km2 and a total volume
of 537,000 km3, three quarters of which is between 200 and 2,200 m deep and permanently anoxic.
The only extensive shallow areas (< 200 m) are on the northwestern shelf, which is fed by the Rivers Danube,
Dniestr (Dniester) and Dnipro (Dnieper). The Azov Sea, fed by the Rivers Don and Kuban, has an area of
38,000 km2; its average depth is 8 m and maximum no more than 14 m.
The Black Sea is the only warm-water marine environmental resource for Eastern Europe and until quite recently
was home to fisheries that were five times richer than those of the neighbouring Mediterranean
(UNDP/UNEP/WB 1993). The Azov Sea, due to its shallowness, warmth and mix of waters, was once the most
productive sea in the world for fisheries. In the 1930s, the total fish catch was 300,000 tonnes, including more
than 160,000 tonnes of valuable fish species. In terms of fish productivity, the Azov Sea exceeded the Caspian
Sea by a factor of six and the Black Sea by a factor of 25. Due to the significant decrease of freshwater drainage
into the Black and Azov Seas (as a result of dam construction and use of river water for industry and agriculture),
the salinity of the two seas has increased (the salinity of the Black Sea from 16-18 ‰ to 18-20 ‰, of the
Azov Sea from 11-12 ‰ to 14 ‰), the plankton biomass has decreased and fish stocks have declined significantly.
The Black Sea is now among the most polluted waterbodies on earth. With its drainage basin of 17 countries
– five times the area of the sea itself – the Black Sea is affected by the activities of about 165 million
people. Industrial and agricultural pollution, both on the shores of the sea itself and from inflowing rivers,
combined with the sea's being virtually enclosed, which reduces flushing capacity, has resulted in significant
pollution and eutrophication. The quantity of mineral fertilisers entering the Black Sea via river water has
increased ten-fold in the past 20-25 years. The Danube alone adds 60,000 tonnes of phosphates and
340,000 tonnes of nitrates annually (Alexandrov 1998). To combat the degradation of the Black Sea, conservation
efforts must address both the direct pollution and the degradation of wetlands within the catchment.
The Black Sea coastal wetlands serve as natural filters, trapping pollutants and sediments from rivers. These
wetlands are threatened by development, deforestation, unregulated house-building, pollution from agriculture,
and discharges from industrial plants. Continuing degradation of these wetlands could eliminate an
important natural buffer between the polluted rivers and the Black Sea. The coastal wetlands are very important
for ecological processes as well as for their rich flora and fauna. The Black Sea coastal wetlands support
a rich and globally significant diversity of habitats and species. These wetlands include habitats such as reeddominated
marshes, forest riverine flood plains, inland lakes and lagoons, limans, deltas, coastal lagoons and
bays, silt and sand flats, as well as artificial wetlands such as fish ponds, rice paddies and salt ponds.