ARCHIVED - Concern increases about implications for Mar Menor businesses as dead fish continue to wash up on the shore

National and international media are putting out nothing but bad publicity about the Mar Menor and Region of Murcia this week

For the fifth consecutive day thousands of dead fish have washed up on the shores of the Mar Menor or are floating in the water in the Gola de La Manga, which links the Mar Menor to the Mediterranean.

Beach cleaners have worked throughout the morning to remove the fish not only from the gola, but also the beaches of Puerto Bello, Cavanna, Cala del Pino, Los Urrutias, Islas Menores and Los Nietos, where the bulk of the corpses are located.

Cartagena town hall closed the beaches of La Gola, Playa Paraiso, Playa Honda, Caravaning, Mar de Cristal, Islas Menores, Puerto Bello, Cala del Pino and Playa de Los Alemanes; by lunchtime only Cala del Pino and playa de Los Alemanes remained closed.

The sailing vessel Elsa, operated by ecological association ANSE, has entered the Mar Menor in order to assist with the vigilance operation and monitor the ongoing situation, and ANSE director Pedro García reiterates that the organisation expects the situation to deteriorate in the coming days due to the forecast of calm and hot weather over the weekend. This is expected to contribute to the increase in water temperature that was initially blamed for the deaths of thousands of small fish on Monday.

Pedro García criticised the lack of information being made publicly available by the regional authorities which could help those concerned about the state of the lagoon to better understand what lies ahead and explain to businesses and the public, requesting clear information about the current situation and how it is likely to evolve.

He stressed that it is impossible to solve the immediate problem in the short-term: “the problem is unsolvable in the short term, there is no short-term measure to solve this situation", he said, but pointed out that practical measures need to be taken into consideration, such as potentially closing the worst-affected beaches.

Video que me han pasado de hoy día 20/08/21 en La Manga a la altura del club náutico de la isleta, otro día mas miles de peces muertos… esto es insoportable ya @MarmenorKO_ @jaortegagarcia @sosmarmenorofi @asociacionanse @WWFespana pic.twitter.com/ZXPtJkUcoP

— Alejandro G (@Alejandrogct) August 20, 2021

It has been noticeable in the last couple of days that although there are fewer smaller fish appearing on the shoreline, there are larger examples and even blue crabs being washed up, a point which has also concerned Pedro García, who stated that these particular invasive marine creatures who have only recently appeared in the Mar Menor, have “a greater resistance”.

The need for proper information has also been highlighted by the negative coverage the situation is receiving in both the national and international press, and it is interesting to see regional Spanish media La Opinión running an article on Friday about a piece which has appeared in UK newspaper “The Guardian” entitled:”Spain prosecutors launch inquiry into mystery fish deaths”.

La Opinión entitled their piece, “The disaster in the Mar Menor sows doubt on foreign tourism”, focusing on the “restaurant and property sectors expressing their pre-occupation about the implications for the international market.”

They quote the president of the regional hostelry association, Juan José López, saying: “It is an image (of the Mar Menor and Murcia region) that is spreading everywhere. It is a disaster that cannot be solved and the politicians make it even worse with the attitude they show, without providing solutions", reminding readers that following the well-publicised 2019 anoxia episode, his members experienced a "considerable drop in income and reserves”.

In a way it is fortunate that the regional authorities have decided against any publicity campaign for the Region of Murcia this summer internationally, dedicating all of the resources normally allocated for both domestic and international tourism coverage exclusively to the Spanish language media (who are being paid to promote the region but are still managing to put out some extremely negative content about it) and completely excluding English language products from their promotional budgets this year, as the revenue normally spent by foreign tourists has been completely discounted due to the coronavirus pandemic and the related travel restrictions. 

As a result, virtually no positive coverage has been given to the Region of Murcia in English, and the uncertainty over the evolution of the Covid pandemic and availability of autumn flights has resulted in lower bookings for the forthcoming autumn, but as the hostelry association quite rightly points out, the negative coverage will undoubtedly be bad for business in the coming months should the situation continue to deteriorate as is expected. The added complication of potentially heavy autumn storms could further exacerbate the situation.

Many businesses had banked on a good summer following a disastrous 18-month period during the Covid pandemic which has already put their businesses in a precarious position.

Juan José López points out that for foreign tourists going to other areas of the Region the Mar Menor situation is less of a deterrent, “as long as their destination has sun and a pool, they’re happy, “ he said, but “the situation of the Mar Menor, added to the fact that there is no longer an airport in San Javier, may mean that they will prefer to go to areas that are better connected and have better water quality", he said.

And added to the lack of interest in supporting the development of foreign tourism currently pervading in the Region, sadly his words may prove not only insightful but also prophetic if nothing is done to rectify the situation.

Meanwhile, researchers lamented that with weeks of hot weather still ahead of us before the end of summer is in sight, the situation in the lagoon is expected to remain critical in the coming weeks.

Images: ANSE