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Daniel Babayani

Gorgan Gulf, as the largest gulf in the Caspian Sea, is strategically located on political borders and this has led to a special interest and inclination towards it by the Russians, especially during the Qajar era.

The great depth of water and the docking of commercial and passenger ships in it, both geographically and environmentally, have created a special position for this Gulf. In 1975, the Gorgan Gulf and its surrounding wetlands were registered as the first international wetland complex in the Ramsar Convention list, and since then, not only the Gulf itself, but also the surrounding areas including Ashuradeh Island (wildlife refuge) and the Gomishan International Wetland have been transformed into a valuable environmental complex.

The Gorgan Gulf, not only from an economic, commercial, and environmental perspective, but also due to its calmness on the shores of Golestan, has been the most suitable marine recreational area. The Miankaleh wetland, located in the Gorgan Gulf, is also one of the largest freshwater reserves connected to the Caspian Sea and, due to its unique geographical shape and ecosystem, is the birthplace of many species of bony and cartilaginous fish in the Caspian Sea. The disconnection of the Gorgan Gulf from the Caspian Sea, the serious reduction of water inflow from all rivers leading to the wetland, the increasing development of rice paddies in the Turkmen Sahra region, the increase in the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers containing heavy metals, and the influx of various untreated sewage into the Gorgan Gulf have threatened the Miankaleh wetland; to the extent that environmental activists say one-f

Masoud Bagherzadeh Karimi, the deputy of wetland affairs at the Environmental Organization, in an interview with Mehr News Agency about the Gorgan Gulf says: “We have conducted depth surveys in this area. The bottom of the wetland is higher than the sea level, so when the sea level drops, naturally less water flows into the wetland. The hills in the mouth of the gulf act as natural barriers between the wetland and the sea. If we use the excuse of wanting to bring sea water into the wetland and dredge the mouth of the gulf and remove those hills, the opposite will happen and the water will flow from the wetland towards the sea, completely drying up the gulf.”

He emphasizes: “These hills have always existed naturally, but the water level was higher and we couldn’t see them underwater. The sudden increase in sedimentation rate has created these hills and closed the mouth, and this sedimentation has been taking place over hundreds of thousands of years, which has led to the current composition of the wetland water.”

The Deputy of the Department of Environmental Lakes of the Environmental Organization states: “Even in an optimistic scenario and assuming that the sea water also comes to the Gulf by removing the hills, we are not seeking this, because the water composition there should be two-thirds salty sea water and one-third fresh river water. It is only with this combination that it can sustain its own biological functions. Therefore, our main problem is not from the sea, but from upstream where obstacles have been created in all rivers, diverting the water and not allowing it to reach the wetlands. Development of agriculture and other uses have practically taken away the share of the wetlands.”

The topic of the Gorgan Gulf crisis has been one of the main concerns of environmental activists and social activists in Golestan province. These activities led to last year’s Ayatollah Noormofidi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Golestan province and the Friday prayer leader of Gorgan, openly warning national and provincial officials about their neglect of the national and regional consequences of the crisis during the Friday prayer.

According to this issue, during Mr. Nobakht’s trip, the Deputy President also considered the need to investigate the allocation of credit channels in the Gulf, which we are unaware of due to lack of proper communication from the Governorate of Golestan or other follow-ups.

Unfortunately, the officials of Mazandaran province, who are mostly from the eastern part of the province, have been in competition with Bandar Turkmen, which was built a hundred years ago with the expertise of the Dutch on the deepest coast of the Caspian Sea. In the past 10 years, they have established Bandar Amirebad on the shallow western coast of the Gorgan Gulf, next to Ashuradeh and the Miankaleh wetland. The flow of the Caspian Sea starts from the west and ends in the east, and at the end of the flow, all the sedimentation of the Caspian Sea is in the eastern part of the Caspian Sea.

To maintain the depth of Amirabad port, ships dredge the port’s seabed and the accumulated sediments are carried away by the current the next day. The dredged sediments from Amirabad are discharged in front of Gorgan Bay and the sediments enter the bay daily and settle at the bottom.

Aras Darde Chogan, one of the old Turkmen fishermen and sailors, also mentions memories from the time of the abundant waters of the Gorgan Gulf and its significant role in improving the economy of the Turkmen desert in an interview with IRNA. He says: “In the mid-1960s, the water level of the Gorgan Gulf had risen so high that it made fishing and expanding the tour difficult, and at that time, elephant fish were caught from the Gulf and other fish were caught outside, but with the decrease in water level in recent years, catching carp and mullet has become more difficult.”

The old fisherman of Gorgan Gulf continued, “Now if we enter the Gulf of Gorgan without dredging the manual channels, the propellers of motor boats will get stuck in the mud and sediment along the coast, causing serious damage to these vessels. Due to the decrease in the water level of the Caspian Sea, the connection between this gulf and the main body of the sea has been cut off, which is concerning for the survival of Gorgan Gulf.”

On the other side, the son of the sea in Golestan province, which is the least sloping coast of the Caspian Sea, has advanced to the point where hundreds of hectares of sea surface have dried up and have been replaced by a desert of thistles.

Unfortunately, both provincial and national authorities have remained silent about the Gulf of Gorgan. The destruction of the Gulf of Gorgan, Ashuradeh Island, and Miankaleh Wetland is an environmental disaster that could have been prevented before it reached complete drought. Due to the salty and infertile lands surrounding the sea, the main occupation of the indigenous Turkmen villagers is fishing. Before a disaster like Lake Urmia is repeated, measures must be taken to prevent the drying up of this gulf, so that at least the economy of the indigenous Turkmen residents of the Gulf of Gorgan is not harmed and domestic and foreign tourists are not deprived of visiting unique areas such as the Gulf of Gorgan and Ashuradeh Island.

Explanation:

The Mehr and IRNA news agencies are the sources of this article.