Fears growing over marine population

For Bahrain resident Jerome, catching clams at Tubli bay is one of his favourite pastimes. Whenever he gets time, he would find out low tide timings and go to Tubli bay to ferret out clams. He would get enough shellfish within an hour to prepare his favourite dish.

But things have changed now. It is not easy to get enough bivalves nowadays though he spends longer time in the knee-deep water. Gone are those days, he said, adding, the clam population has dwindled drastically of late.

Jerome opined that pollution has affected the spawning and growth of clams. The bay has turned into a dumping yard with cardboards, carcasses and waste materials lying all around the place, badly affecting the mangroves. This ultimately hit the marine life here, he said.

Due to land reclamation, the size of the bay has reduced considerably. This might also be one of the reasons for fall in clam population, he opined.

Another Bahraini resident Jikson also recalled those days, when he used to get a huge amount of clams. Even there has been decrease in crab population, he said. “Nowadays, visiting this bay to catch clams or crabs is not at all feasible,” he said.

However, the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), which aims at assisting the government in preserving and managing its environment, natural and marine resources, wildlife, as well as biodiversity, declined to confirm the reports of fall in clam population, adding that it cannot give any reasons without solid scientific evidence.

In the meantime, SCE stated that like all other anthropogenic impacts, pollution and reclamation obviously affect wildlife species. “However, the SCE constantly regulates, measures and monitors all reclamation projects in and around Tubli to ensure that all impacts are minimal and that any major impacts are quickly tackled,” it said.

The SCE said that projects are stopped if impacts are seen to be adverse. It also said that pollution from the sewage treatment still exists, although it went down a lot after the new projects. “The SCE has for the past two years been implementing various conservation and restoration projects in and around Tubli focusing on mangrove ecosystems,” it said.