Kurdistan
Dead fish in Darbandikhan Lake in Sulaimani province on September 1, 2025. Photo: Submitted
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nearly 6,000 fish have died in a lake in the Kurdistan Region’s eastern Sulaimani province, local officials told Rudaw on Monday, attributing the incident to mismanagement at a fish farm.
The incident unfolded at the Darbandikhan Lake southeast of Sulaimani.
Darbandikhan Mayor Sulaiman Mohammed stated that the mass fish deaths were not caused by illegal fishing, disease or the use of toxic substances, but rather by improper fish farm practices.
“The fish that died were small and entered the suspended cages of a fish farming pool. After growing, they were unable to get out into the lake. When the pool owner attempted to remove them, he mishandled them, which led to their deaths,” he said.
A “specialized team” which visited the lake to look into the incident “found that the dead fish weighed 50 to 60 grams and were of the Manger [Pike Barbel] type,” Mohammed said. He added that to prevent the spread of disease and foul odor from the dead fish, the Darbandikhan district administration disposed of the fish “in a scientific manner.”
In an early August episode of Lagal Ranj, Rudaw’s current affairs program, officials, veterinarians and fish farm operators warned of poor aquaculture practices. They highlighted the lack of awareness among fish farmers in the Kurdistan Region, including the use of banned chemicals. The panel attributed the problem to limited oversight, urging stricter government enforcement.
Earlier this year, Jassim al-Asadi, head of the Nature Iraq environmental group, claimed that Iraq has lost up to 95 percent of its fish population in the southern marshes due to climate change. He cited chronic water shortages caused by reduced rainfall and upstream damming in Turkey and Iran.
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