Increases in nutrient concentrations in the Gulf have often been concentrated in the Kuwait Bay and the area around the outfall of the Shatt-Al-Arab river, and they have been cited as the cause of a number of eutrophication incidents. A major red tide and an associated fish kill occurred in 1999. The main conclusion of that incident was that unless pollution levels were reduced drastically, eutrophication conditions would worsen, causing more fish kills.

The 1999 event was one of a series. In 1986, tonnes of fish as well as other marine animals, including 527 dolphins, 7 dugongs, 58 turtles and more than 10 000 cuttle fish, had been found dead along the shores of the Gulf. During 1990 and 1991, 137 sea turtles were found dead along the Omani coast. In 1993, a fish kill was observed two months after the sinking of a Russian merchant vessel carrying chemicals. Similar phenomena were reported along the coasts of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates between 1993 and 1998.

Kuwait Bay has experienced a series of changes over the years, including the release of both treated and untreated sewage and oils and untreated wastes from sources connected directly to the storm water network. Two commercial ports and several marinas, three power stations, a commercial fish farm in the middle of the bay, and an artificial river in Iraq into which sewage and agriculture run-off from the newly drained marshes are released, exert pressure on the bay.

Another source of nutrients is wind-blown soil carried by the predominant northwesterly winds, which has increased over the past few years due to the shrinking marshlands in Iraq. The linkage between the marshes and the Gulf through the Shatt Al-Arab and its tributaries has allowed fish to migrate. In August-September 2001, more than 3 000 tonnes of fish, predominantly mullet, died. The pathogen identified, Streptococcus iniae, could have originated from sewage or contaminated fish-feed. The same species was reported in Bahrain in 1999 when there was massive mortality in rabbitfish populations. The combined effects of elimination of the Iraqi marshes as a natural wastewater treatment system and the continued input of organic matter from anthropogenic activities coupled with arid conditions have created a recipe for disaster, transforming the Gulf into a soup ready to provide a perfect media for bacterial and algal blooms.

Source: Cynthia and others 2001