Iraqi Journal of Aquaculture

The study made an evaluation to the effects of saltwater intrution in the Shatt Al-Arab river on the fish culture activites. Data reveals noticeable increase of investment in fresh water carp fish culture during the years 2009, 2010 and the next years. The documents of Basrah Agriculture Directerate indicated that 48 earthern ponds of an area nearly 3778 Acres were licensed and furthermore, nearly 380 floating fish cage farms were licensed about 26120 m2 area which represents the actual worked 1277 cages. However, the approved number of given licensed farms were 514 farms with at least 16 cages to each farm, which potentially can be invested a water area nearly 98688 m2, calculated to a cage of 4 x 3 x 2 (m2) dimentions. The total estimated production of earthern ponds was 3778–4723 t. annually, and that of floating cages farms was 3266–7800 t. annually. The total financial income of fish production in Basra proviance is estimated to be about 26133–35883 billion Iraqi dinar and more than 3000 persons were involved in the sector of fishculture and fisheries. The acute successive increases of salinity that Shatt Al-Arab river experienced, particularly during 2018 were caused large fish mortality and many fish farms were closed and have had very negative effects on the fish sector in Basrah proviance.

The stress of acute salinity increase on the life of macro-invertebrates in Shatt Al-Arab River system were investigated based on their abundance estimation acute salinity increase during the year 2018,where the salinity of the River at central, Basrah City became above 5 ppt and reached up to 25 ppt. Review work was done to determine the sizes and densities of the species during the normal conditions in past decades (1975-1995). The results of observations, photography and semi-quantitative sampling which were taken during many visits in the years 2012, 2015, 2016, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 at Al-Salhia, Abo Al-Kassib, Al-Garmma and Al-Gurnah, were expressed in an ordinal six abundant scales (SACFOR), modified for species sizes and densities. All the species were have superabundance or common scale during the period 1975-1995, whereas at 2018-2020 the abundance of all species except M. affinis, were declined in general, 7 species were absent and 3 more were rare. The amphipods Parhyale basrensis, Platorchestia monodi, the isopod Sphaeroma annandalei and the annelid Namalycastis indica were commonly or frequently found at good state indicating their ability to resist the mesohaline conditions, the euryhaline species M. affinis and B. amphitrite weren’t affected. The study concluded that, in case of long term mesohaline conditions, most of the estuarine macro-invertebrates will be unable to persist and may be shifting to the upper reaches of the River.

The space-time changes of waters could be considered the basis for research in in applied hydrology. The purpose of this science is to develop scientific and logical explanations of hydrological changes and to gain an understanding of the interrelationships between them.The present study aims at developing a database of river discharge and salinity concentration in the Shatt Al-Arab river (i.e., for selected sites) and the research was based on analysis of previous reference data and research measures that included data recorded for discharge volume and water quality during the period from 1978 to 2017 to reveal change in water nutrition size and effects in salinity. The study showed a link between the two rivers\' running system, the amount of Shatt al Arab discharge and the quality of its water with the emergence of a temporal effect of the Karon River in the southern part of the stream, a link between decreasing discharge and salinity, changing salinity does not take a single pattern in all locations or periods studied, and water discharge gradually showed a decrease after the 1990s, and continued to reach its peak during the two years (2008-2009 and 2014-2015), the study recommends the quantity and quality of water coming to Shatt al-Arab should be continuously reinforced, evaluation plans should be made from time to time, and hydraulic systems placed on some of the entrances of Shatt al-Arab.

The data of the current study were collected in 2019 to document the financial losses caused to al-Seeba Farms that are engaged in carp farming by the saltwater intrusion in the Shatt al-Arab River in 2009. The farms are situated in Basrah Governorate, Southern Iraq. The study relied on information obtained from farm owners and the data gathered from agricultural departments in the study areas associated with the Basrah Directorate of Agriculture. The study showed that project inputs were huge in terms of the loan given by the government (2 billion, four hundred and seven million Iraqi dinars in addition to twenty-five million two hundred fifty-thousand dinars (total cost of purchasing carp fish from the hatchery). In addition to the cost of purchasing sinking pellets, which is estimated at four hundred twenty-one million, three hundred and twenty-one thousand dinars. The project did not produce any output because of the intrusion of saltwater. The study included a comparison of the Seeba project which has 29 farms with two other fish farms in the Al-Faw district for marine fish species. These two farms in the Al-Faw district have resulted in profits of 37 million Iraqi dinars per season. The Al-Seeba project for fish farming represents one of the repeated failures in fish farming in the governorate, which is due to the saltwater intrusion and other reasons such as the absence of special expertise in the study of economic feasibility, environmental impact, planning, and management. The success of the two farms in Al-Fao encourages investment in this field, which is raising marine fish in the Shatt Al-Arab River in locations near the river’s estuary. It is important to establish marine fish hatcheries to ensure the sustainability of the project and protect the ecological balance.

This study aimed to investigate the monthly changes in the diversity and abundance of Odonata naiad's species for the period from December 2017 to November 2018 from three temporary pools in different areas of Basrah Province, including Abu Gossra-Abu Al-Kassib District (station 1), Al-Masehab- Al-Hartha district (station 2) and Al-Jalal - Al-Madina District (Station 3). Some environmental factors were measured, as water temperatures ranged between (12-38 ° C) while the salinity ranged between (1.2-14 ‰). Ten species of Odonata naiads were recorded, including eight species of Suborder Anisoptera and two species of Suborder Zygoptera. The highest diversity of naiads (9 species) was in St.1 and St.2, and the lowest diversity (8 species) was in St.3. Statistical analysis showed significant effect of environmental factors on the abundance of naiads during sampling period between stations and months. The highest relative abundance was 70% for Crocothemis servilia during January, while the lowest relative abundance was 0.98. % for Diplacodes lefebvrei during April. Environmental indexes of Anisoptera naiads in Basrah showed that their communities are poor in diversity and turbulent, balanced or semi balanced according to the standard values. Jacquard index showed the highest qualitative similarity between St.2 and St.3, and the lowest between St.1 and St.2.