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The Black Sea

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PII: S0025-326X(00)00100-4
The Black Sea

GULFEM BAKAN* and HANIFE BUY  UKG
 
UNG 
OR
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Kurupelit, Samsun,
Turkey
The Black Sea is the worldÕs largest land-locked inland
sea. Almost one third of the entire land area of conti-
nental Europe drains into it and, during the last 30
years, the Black Sea environment has su€ered a cata-
strophic degradation from the waterborne waste from
17 countries. Due to natural causes, subhalocline waters
of the Black Sea are anoxic. In spite of this natural de-
®ciency, the Black Sea has served mankind well in the
past through its provision of food resources, as a natural
setting for recreation and transportation, and even as a
disposal site for waste, including nuclear wastes. In re-
turn, it has been exploited and degraded in many ways.
Unregulated and unplanned freshwater withdrawal for
irrigation purposes, hydro- and thermal-power genera-
tion, the use of coastal areas for construction, and the
many untreated industrial and agricultural wastes dis-
charged into the rivers that drain into the sea have all
had detrimental e€ects on its health.
The large natural river supply of phosphorus and
nitrogen, essential nutrients for marine plants and algae,
has always made the Black Sea very fertile. The serious
degradation it faces now can be explained by a variety of
factors ranging from high pollution loads from the riv-
ers that discharge into the sea to improper policies and
inadequate management practices. Among the most se-
rious problems is the high level of eutrophication by
nutrients from land-based sources. Other factors in the
degradation of the marine environment include the in-
troduction of opportunistic species such as the comb
jelly®sh, Mnemiopsis leydi; changes in the hydrological
balance caused by construction of dams on major rivers;
chemical and microbiological pollution, synthetic or-
ganic contaminants, heavy metals, radionuclides,
dumping and oil pollution.
These have caused the environment of the Black Sea
to deteriorate dramatically in terms of biodiversity,
habitats, ®sheries resources, aesthetic and recreational
value and water quality. Land-based sources are iden-
ti®ed as the primary factor causing the present crisis
situation, and this is where research e€orts have been
targeted.
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-362-4576000; fax: +90-362-
4576035.
E-mail address: gbakan@samsun.omu.edu.tr (G. Bakan).
24
Marine Pollution Bulletin Vol. 41, Nos. 1±6, pp. 24±43, 2000
Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
0025-326X/00 $ - see front matter
Black Sea riparian countries have committed them-
selves to prevent, reduce and control pollution from
land-based sources in accordance with Article VII of the
Bucharest Convention. Gathering information on the
sources of pollution was one of the basic requirements
of the Odessa Ministerial Declaration of the Black Sea
countries. One of the objectives of the Program for
Environmental Management and Protection in the
Black Sea, known as the Black Sea Environmental
Program, BSEP, is the preparation of a Black Sea
Action Plan.
This chapter reviews the Black Sea in environmental
terms, its current environmental status and major
problems arising from human use of both the sea and its
watershed. It also comments on major trends, problems
and successes mainly in the light of the Black Sea En-
vironmental Program (BSEP, 1994). Following a gen-
eral review, the southern, Turkish coast is focused upon.
The De®ned Region
The Black Sea (Fig. 1) is a semi-enclosed sea, whose only
connection to the worldÕs oceans is the narrow Bos-
phorus Channel. It is situated between 40°550 to 46°320 N
and 27°270 to 41°320 E. To the south, it is connected to
the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus, which is the
worldÕs narrowest strait, with an average width of 1.6
km, depth of 36 m and a total length of 31 km. To the
north, the Black Sea is connected with the Sea of Azov
through the shallow Kerch Strait, which has a depth of
less than 20 m. The Black Sea is surrounded by six
countries located in Europe and Asia: Bulgaria, Geor-
gia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. In fact, the
Black Sea is in¯uenced by seventeen countries, thirteen
capital cities and some 160 million people. Indeed, the
second, third, and fourth major European rivers, the
Danube, Dniper and Don, discharge into this sea and so
almost one third of the entire land area of continental
Europe a€ects it.
The Black Sea area is 4:2105 km2 with maximum and
average depths of 2200 and 1240 m, respectively. Ninety
per cent of its water mass is anoxic (Sorokin, 1983), thus
it contains the worldÕs largest anoxic water mass. Below
the layer of oxygenated surfacewater, hydrogen sulphide
builds up in the deepwater down to a maximum depth of
2200 m. The hydrographic regime is characterized by
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000
Fig. 1 The Black Sea and its drainage basin.
low-salinity surfacewater of river origin overlying high-
salinity deepwater of Mediterranean origin. A steep
pycnocline centred at about 50 m is the primary physical
barrier to mixing and is the origin of the stability of the
anoxic interface (Murray et al., 1989).
Murray et al. (1989) reported dramatic changes in the
oceanographic characteristics of the anoxic interface of
the Black Sea over decadal or shorter time scales. The
anoxic, sulphide-containing interface has moved up in
the water column since US cruises in 1969 and 1975. In
addition, a suboxic zone overlays the sulphide-contain-
ing deepwater, and the expected overlap of oxygen and
sulphide was not present. It was believed that this results
from horizontal mixing or ¯ushing events that inject
denser, saltier water into the relevant part of the water
column. It is possible that anthropogenic reductions in
freshwater in¯ow into the Black Sea could cause these
changes, although natural variability cannot be dis-
counted. Moreover, a long-term increase in nitrate
concentration and a concomitant decrease in the silicate
and ammonia concentrations in this upper layer are
indicative of the considerable changes taking place in the
biochemical regime of the Black Sea (Tugrul et al.,
1992).
The main sources of pollution in the Black Sea are the
rivers which ¯ow into the region. The major rivers
¯owing into the Black Sea and their discharges are:
Danube (203 km3 yrÿ1 ), Dniper (54 km3 yrÿ1 ), Dniesta
(9.3 km3 yrÿ1 ), Don (28 km3 yrÿ1 ) and Kuban (13 km3
yrÿ1 ). In addition to these, a large number of smaller
rivers along the Turkish and Bulgarian coasts contribute
another 28 km3 yrÿ1 to the water budget of the sea
(Balkas et al., 1990).
Seasonality, Currents, Natural Environmental
Variables of the Black Sea
Temporal and spatial variability of atmospheric con-
ditions is a distinguishing feature of the Black Sea cli-
mate. Meteorological conditions vary in both east-west
and north-south directions, particularly during winter
when the centre of maximum pressure over Siberia
25
 Marine Pollution Bulletin

dominates the region. The average pressure is about
1020 mb in the north, 1016 mb in the south. The highest
average wind speed, observed in January and February,
is about 16 knots. There are signi®cant seasonal changes
in air temperatures: the highest average temperatures are
24°C in the central and northern parts and 22°C in the
southern parts. The average daily minimum and maxi-
mum values in August are about 19°C and 28°C, re-
spectively, along the southern coast of the Black Sea,
where regional variations in air temperature can reach
8°C.
The Black Sea is located in a semi-arid climatic zone
and as a result, evaporation (332±392 km3 yrÿ1 ) exceeds
rainfall (225±300 km3 yrÿ1 ). Runo€ (350 km3 yrÿ1 )
originating primarily from the humid zone to the north,
leads to an excess of net freshwater in¯ow and subse-
quent dilution of surface seawaters. In the Mediterra-
nean, in contrast, evaporative losses exceed net
freshwater input. As a result, the relatively less saline
and lighter waters of the Black Sea ¯ow into the Med-
iterranean over the top of a more saline counter¯ow
(Fig. 2) (see Unl 
 uata and Oguz 1988; Ozsoy et al., 1986).
The predominant semi-permanent elements of the
general circulation in the Black Sea consist of a cyclonic
boundary current that essentially runs parallel to the
basinÕs periphery, two cyclonic gyres that nearly split the
basin area into two and a series of cyclonic and anti-
cyclonic mesoscale eddies that appear to come from the
larger-scale features (Fig. 3) (Neumann, 1942). Within
the general atmospheric circulation, the Black Sea is
under the e€ects of the Azores anticyclone and Persian
Gulf cyclone in summer, and is a€ected by the arctic low

Fig. 2 Diagrams for cross-circulation induced by upwelling and

downwelling in the presence of thermocline in summer (a±d)
and in winter (e±g) (source: IOC, 1993).

Fig. 3 General surface circulation, after Neumann, 1942 (source:

Balkas et al., UNEP, 1990; reproduced with the permission of
Prof. Turgut Balkas).

26
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000

Fig. 4 Schematic representation of the main features of the upper

layer general circulation emerging from synthesis of past
studies and the SO90 survey. Solid (dashed) lines indicate
quasi-permanent (recurrent) features of the general circulation
(source: Oguz et al., 1993).

pressure centre and the Asian high centre in winter

(Tolmazin, 1985). Satellite imagery and high resolution
hydrographic data along the Turkish coast indicate the
presence of temporally and spatially variable mesoscale
features, and speci®c organized forms of local non-
stationary currents (such as jets, ®laments and dipole
eddies), embedded within the cyclonic general circula-
tion (Oguz et al., 1992).
Circulation features of the Black Sea examined in
September±October 1990 (Oguz et al., 1993) show a
circulation pattern for the upper 300±400 dbar of a
cyclonically meandering Rim Current, a series of anti-
cyclonic eddies between the coast and the Rim Current,
and a basin-wide, multi-centred cyclonic cell in the in-
terior. Deeper in the intermediate depth (de®ned here
between 500 and 1000 dbar) circulations are weaker and
reveal considerable structural variability, with counter-
currents, moving eddy centres, coalescence of eddies,
and associated recirculation cells. A descriptive synthesis
of the upper-layer circulation (Fig. 4), combining the
present results with earlier ®ndings, identi®es quasi-
permanent and recurrent features even though the
shape, position, strength of eddies and meander pattern
of currents vary. The features discussed by Oguz et al.
(1993) re¯ect the e€ect of multiple and variable forcings
and modi®cations introduced by internal dynamic pro-
cesses on the basin circulation.
A distinguishing characteristic of the Black Sea is the
presence of a permanent halocline located between 100
Fig. 5 Vertical pro®les of temperature (T), salinity (S) and density (st)
and 200 m. The Black Sea is the worldÕs largest body of in the Black Sea (source: Balkas et al., UNEP, 1990; reproduced
water with this character. The strati®cation is generated with the permission of Prof. Turgut Balkas).
by freshwater input and the Mediterranean in¯ow of
water of a higher salinity. The vertical pattern of salinity
is essentially the same everywhere in the basin, except in ing on the regional deepwater convection and mixing
the coastal and nearby shelf regions located particularly characteristics. A representative salinity pro®le is shown
in the north-east part of the basin. The mean salinity of in Fig. 5 including vertical pro®les of temperature and
the deepwaters in the Black Sea is 22.2±22.4& depend- density in the Black Sea (Balkas et al., 1990).

27

Salinity of surfacewaters varies depending on the
amount of evaporation, precipitation and river runo€,
but variations are almost absent below 200 m. Average
surface salinities are about 18.0±18.5& during winter
and are typically 1.0±1.5& higher than those observed
in summer, particularly in the western and south-eastern
parts. Salinities in summer may attain much lower
values even in the shelf and coastal areas of the north±
north-eastern Black Sea where values of about 14±16&
are frequently observed due to runo€ (Balkas et al.,
1990).
Water temperature shows much more pronounced
variations than does salinity. Mean annual surface
temperature varies from 16°C in the south, to 13°C in
the north-eastern and 11°C in the north-western parts.
While in the upper 50±70 m water layer, the temperature
has seasonal ¯uctuations and considerable vertical
variations, the temperature of deeperwaters remains
constant through the year. Typically, the temperature at
a depth of 1000 m is about 9°C and shows a slight in-
crease of 0.1°C per 1000 m towards the bottom due to
geothermal heat ¯ux from the sea ¯oor (Fig. 5).
The Major Shallow Water Marine and Coastal
Habitats and O€shore Systems of the Black Sea
Anthropogenic eutrophication of oceanic shelves and
coastalwaters has been the most damaging of all the
many harmful human in¯uences, both in terms of its
scale and its consequences. Phenomena such as the de-
crease in taxonomic diversity, population explosions of
some species to the detriment of others, declining water
transparency, the degradation of benthic macrophyt-
ocenoses, hypoxia in bottom benthic layers, and mass
mortalities of the zoobenthos and nektobenthic ®sh are
all directly or indirectly linked to the sharp increase in
mineral and organic elements in the runo€, which has
had a strong impact on rates of primary production.
Due to its geographic position and morphometric
features, the Black Sea is a classical example of the
above. Eutrophication, bottom trawling and accidental
introduction of exotic species have led to profound
changes in the biota. The most endangered are the
largest assemblages of mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis
(containing more than 100 species of invertebrates, in-
cluding endemic and relict species), brown alga Cys-
toseira barbata (60 species) and red algae Phyllophora
nervosa (90 species). Introduced exotic marine organ-
isms have consumed indigenous bivalve molluscs (the
Paci®c snail Rapana thomasiana), and zooplankton,
pelagic ®sh eggs and larvae (Atlantic ctenophore
Mnemiopsis leidyi) (Zaitsev and Manaev, 1997).
Results of a three-year Black Sea Environmental
Programme, BSEP, are presented in Zaitsev and Ma-
maev (1997). Speci®c measures are proposed to protect
Black Sea keystone species (Mytilus, Cystoseria,
Phyllophora), forming nuclei of large bottom commu-
nities. The establishment of new protected areas, pro-
28
Marine Pollution Bulletin
hibition of bottom ®shing gears in certain areas,
construction of arti®cial reefs and ballast water control
are among the recommendations.
According to most reports on threats to the Black
Sea, eutrophication is the SeaÕs primary problem. As a
result of the nutrient ¯ow, principally into the western
and northern continental shelves, algal blooms have
intensi®ed over the past decades. This, in turn, has
triggered some fundamental biological alterations to the
upper water layers. In the ®rst place, the algal blooms
have reduced the amount of sunlight penetrating into
the water column. This has resulted in the mass mor-
tality of shallow water macrophytes, such as Phyllo-
phora (a red algae) formerly an important component of
Black Sea ecosystems and a major economic resource
(Sorensen et al., 1997).
Waters above the main pycnocline is where phyto-
plankton thrive in most marine basins. Particularly in
winter and spring seasons, the main pycnocline in the
Black Sea lies closer to the surface than in other seas.
Winter blooms during winter convection and uniform
surface temperatures above the pycnocline are charac-
teristic of the open Black Sea. It may be assumed that in
the open sea, annual phytoplankton production
amounts to 200±250 mg C mÿ2 , characteristic of meso-
trophic waters tending to evolve to eutrophic conditions
(Vinogradov and Tumantseva, 1993).
As a result of eutrophication, there have been changes
in the composition of the phytoplankton community. In
the early 1960s, the nutrient content was a limiting
factor for phytoplankton development. Since 1970, nu-
trients exceeded the phytoplankton requirements and
stopped being a factor controlling primary production.
A large amount of phytoplankton adds to the suspended
matter, further reducing light penetration. Phytoplank-
ton blooms also deplete dissolved oxygen with the result
that conditions become lethal to the majority of or-
ganisms (Balkas et al., 1990). In recent years, such water
blooms became characteristic of the north-western part
of the Black Sea, and the area covered by the blooms
increased 10±30-fold in comparison with 1950±1960
(Zaitsev and Mamaev, 1997).
The dominant Black Sea mesoplankton are copepods,
among them the interzonal Calnus ponticus. Until the
summer of 1988, the biomass of Sagitta setosa was al-
most as high, but after rapid development of the intro-
duced Mnemiopsis, the former decreased rapidly.
Herbivorous mesoplankton biomass including consum-
ers of nanoplankton, and Noctiluca, now constitutes 52±
88% of the total mesoplankton mass. The Black Sea
macroplankton includes three large species: the cteno-
phore Mnemiopsis leidyi and the two medusae Aurelia
aurita and Rhyzostoma pulmo. The latter inhabit mainly
contaminated coastal regions of the Black Sea and the
Sea of Azov and almost never penetrate into the open
sea. Aurelia aurita and Mnemiopsis leidyi, by contrast,
inhabit cleaner coastalwaters and open seawaters
(Vinogradov and Tumantseva, 1993).
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000
By the end of the 1980s, the total biomass of the
ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi, which was introduced by
ships from the Atlantic coast of North America, was
estimated at a billion tons. It is known that it is an active
predator, feeding on zooplankton and crustaceans in
particular, and also on pelagic eggs and ®sh larvae. The
late 1980s were marked by a sharp decline, then col-
lapse, of the catch of the main commercial ®sh, the
anchovy. It may be that Mnemiopsis was not the major
reason for the decline of the existing Black Sea ®sheries,
but the example of Mnemiopsis and other exotics dem-
onstrates that biological diversity is fragile (Zaitsev and
Mamaev, 1997).
Long-term modi®cations to the Black Sea marine
environment resulting from human activity have in-
duced signi®cant changes not only in phytoplankton but
also in zooplankton and zoobenthos. The zooplankton
community increased from 2.56 mg mÿ3 in 1961 to 18.30
mg mÿ3 in 1967 and 16.96 to 155.56 mg mÿ3 during
1976±1977. In 1983, this was 8719 mg mÿ3 . Noctiluca
miliaris had an explosive increase, reaching 15 712 in-
dividuals mÿ3 ; Acartia clausi reached 5835 individuals
mÿ3 and Pleopsis polyphemoides 1760 individuals mÿ3 .
The diversity indices of zooplankton have low values
due to a few opportunistic species such as Pleopsis
polyphemoides and Acartia clausii that produce mono-
speci®c populations (Balkas et al., 1990). When nano-
plankton and algae die, settle and decay, consuming
huge quantities of oxygen in the process. Consequently,
about 95% of the Ukrainian coastline and the entire Sea
of Azov (shared by Ukraine and Russia) now su€er
from hypoxia (Sorensen et al., 1997).
At the same time, transparency worsens as the result
of greater quantities of phytoplankton, Noctiluca, jelly-
®sh, detritus and other organisms and particles. By the
1980s transparency had fallen to 7±8 m and then 2±2.5
m and, during blooms, it declined to less than 1 m. In
the 1960s, the compensation point was about 45±55 m in
the openwater of the north-western shelf and 18±20 m
closer to the shore. In the 1980s, the compensation point
shrank to 20±25 m in the open sea and 6±8 m close to the
shore. This means that by the 1980s, the bottom algae,
which until the 1960s had grown close to the shore at
depths over 6±8 m and in the open sea at depths of more
than 20±25 m, were below the compensation point. The
result has been a severe depletion of benthic algae. This
process is graphically illustrated by the example of
ZernovÕs Phyllophora ®eld (Fig. 6) (Zaitsev and
Mamaev, 1997).
Moreover, there have been spectacular changes in the
biomass of Jelly®sh (Aurelia aurita). In 1978, in the 0±10
m layer there were 47 million tons of Aurelia with a total
biomass (wet weight) of 300±450 million tons for the
whole of the Black Sea. This is much greater than the
biomass of the anchovy, and can be related to the de-
velopment of phytoplankton and zooplankton as a re-
sult of eutrophication and to the considerable reduction
in the number of some plankton-feeding trophic com-
Fig. 6 Progressive reduction of ZernovÕs Phyllophora ®eld on the
NWS and proposed protection area (source: Zaitsev and
Mamaev, 1997).
petitors of the jelly®sh. Benthic fauna has also shown
qualitative and quantitative changes. Ostrea sublamell-
osa and Gibbula divaricata are now extinct along the
Romanian coast. As a consequence of the more frequent
phytoplankton blooms, a great quantity of organic de-
tritus is accumulating on the sea bed. This detritus is an
ideal food for Melinna, which shows tolerance to large
changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations and even
temporary anaerobic conditions and the presence of
hydrogen sulphide. Owing to these modi®ed conditions,
new organisms have penetrated into the Black Sea and
formed large populations. These are Polidora ciliata,
Callinectes sapidus, Rapana thomasiana, Mya arenaria,
and, more recently Scapharca inequivalvis (Balkas et al.,
1990).
Thus, for the benthos, one of the most damaging ef-
fects of eutrophication has been the creation of zones in
the bottom layers of water with reduced (hypoxia) or no
(anoxia) dissolved oxygen. Hypoxia and mass mortali-
ties became an annual occurrence from 1973 and the
area of the north-western shelf over which they now
occur increased to 30 000±40 000 km2 , depending on the
particular features of each summer and autumn seasons
(Zaitsev and Mamaev, 1997).
Recent widespread changes in the biological diversity
in the Black Sea are largely due to e€ects of human
activities. Loss or imminent loss of endangered species
which have ecological and/or economic value for the
Black Sea ecosystem, degradation of coastal wetlands,
loss of habitats and communities and degradation of
landscape are the most common responses of the Black
Sea ecosystem to manÕs activities. Species listed in
Table 1 are mainly keystone species at the centre of
communities, which are highly characteristic of the local
environment, and include threatened endemic as well as
relict species. Those communities have dramatically
29

TABLE 1
Loss or imminent loss of endangered species in the Black Sea and its wetlands (modi®ed from GEF Draft Report, 1996a; reproduced with the
permission of BSEP).
Taxon Main species groups
Bottom plant community Red algae (phyllophora)
Brown algae
Commercial and/or Molluscs
endemic animals
Mussela
Oystera
Hypanisa
Bottom crustaceans Crabs (about 14 species) Shrimps (more than
20 species)
Fish Gobiidae (20 species, 10 commercial, all endemic)
Wetlands communities Consisting of plants, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles,
birds and mammals in all well over 2000 species
Marine mammals 3 dolphins
Monk seal
a
As reference against which to evaluate present population sizes, the population sizes for the 1960s were used.
decreased due to the eutrophication caused by in¯ow of
untreated sewage from point and non-point sources and
from polluted rivers, from hypoxia caused by eutroph-
ication, increased turbidity, including that induced by
use of various types of bottom gear, toxic pollution,
over-harvesting and destruction of breeding grounds
(GEF, 1996a,b,c).
There are currently three species of dolphin in the
Black Sea: the common dolphin Delphinus delphis, the
harbour porpoise, Phoceana phoceana, and the bottle-
nosed dolphin Tursiops truncatus. In 1950, the total
dolphin population is thought to have been approxi-
mately 1 million. An aerial survey in 1983±84 estimated
that there were 60 000±100 000 individuals in the waters
of the former Soviet Union. A Turkish ship-based survey
in 1987 put the total Black Sea population at 445 440. The
true ®gure, however, is probably considerably less and
there is an urgent need for an accurate stock assessment.
The decline of the dolphin population in the Black Sea
may be attributed to three main factors: accidental kill-
ings directly related to gill net ®shing, destruction of the
coastal ecosystem due to harmful or over®shing, and the
 urk, 1996).
direct e€ect of pollution (Ozt
The occurrence and distribution of the critically en-
dangered Mediterranean monk seal in the Black Sea
poses a more intractable problem. The primary threat to
the few remaining individuals appears to come from the
numerous types of pollution, over®shing, food shortages
and coastal ecosystem degradation.
Fisheries issues along the black sea coast
Unlike the Mediterranean, the Black Sea was tradi-
tionally a rich ®shing area, supporting some 2 million
people. This economic resource has now been almost
entirely destroyed. Biodiversity has also su€ered, and
future options for resource development of the Black
30
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Population size and geographic range
3% of reference level on Ukrainian shelf
Less than 1% of reference level
on Romanian and Ukrainian shelf
30% reference level on NWS
less than 5% reference level
50% of reference level, brackish
waters in Russia and Ukraine
30±50% of reference level, 40%
of reference level, basin wide
20% reference level, NWS
Variable, but declining
5±10% of reference level, basin wide
Few specimens left
Sea have been reduced. During the 1980s the Black Sea
®shing industry collapsed. Total catches, estimated at
900 000 t in 1986, fell to about 100 000 t for all countries
in 1992.
The loss of ®sheries resources in the Black Sea is an
issue which transcends the usual boundaries of stock
management, which commonly is a process of managing
the activities of the ®shermen themselves. The declining
®sheries are a clear consequence of the degradation of
the ecosystem itself, which is, in turn, intimately related
to land-based human activities.
Changes in the ichthyofaunal composition of the Black
Sea have primarily involved alterations in the number of
individuals in speci®c populations. For many species, ®sh
populations have declined so sharply that they have lost
their importance for commercial ®shing, and remain
within the Black Sea ichthyofauna only as zoological
representatives of the species. In the period 1960±1970,
there were 26 commercial ®sh species, which were caught
by tens or even hundreds of thousands of tons. By the
1980s only ®ve species were left, although they were
joined in the early 1990s by the introduced haarder Mugil
soiury (Zaitsev and Mamaev, 1997; Pavlov et al., 1996).
The Turkish ®shery industry, composed entirely of
small-scale owner-operators, exploits the coastalwaters
of the countryÕs extensive coastline. Within Turkish
waters, the Black Sea is the most productive region,
accounting for an average 85% of TurkeyÕs total catch.
Anchovy is the most abundant ®sh species. It is a winter
seasonal ®sh, available in densest concentration from
November to March. The ®sh descends during the day
to a depth of 70±80 m, and rises during the night to the
higher water layers thereby moving toward the coast
into depths of 10±40 m. Purse-seining is the only ®shing
method used by Turkish ®shermen to catch the anchovy,
and since it is available in large quantities, it has a
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000
TABLE 2
Summary table by ecological category of ®sh resource (modi®ed from GEF Draft Report, 1996a; reproduced with the permission of BSEP).
Resource category Species
Pelagic ®sh Sprat, Whiting, Anchovy, Horse Mackerel
Demersal ®sh Turbot, Spiny dog®sh
Anadromous ®sh Sturgeons
Shad
Indicators of Red algae, dolphins
ecosystem health
Venus clam, blue mussels
Arti®cial reefs
Native grey/golden mullets, red mullet,
rays and skates, native salmon-trout
Exploitable species Mya clam, blue crabs, sandlance and silversides
Rapana snail
Haarder (exotic grey mullet)
Seasonal migrants Mackerel, Bonito, Blue®sh
comparatively low market value, and thus has a high
consumption rate especially in coastal residential areas.
Anchovy is considered to be an important supplemen-
tary source of protein for the growing population
(Dincßer et al., 1995).
It is clear that the main resources of the Black Sea are
transboundary in nature and require co-operative action.
The recent collapse of the ®sheries is directly connected
with degradation of the water quality and destruction of
spawning grounds and unplanned development as well as
uncontrolled ®sheries practices. However, to date, there
has been no international agreement on appropriate
levels of ®shing by each coastal state, and the current
distribution of bene®ts does not well re¯ect the territorial
distribution of resources. Although precise estimates of
the socioeconomic impacts of the collapse of the ®sheries
are not available in terms of earnings and employment, it
is clear that annual catch values for the ®shery declined
by at least US$ 300 million from the mid 1980s to the
early 1990s.
It must be stressed that co-operative management on
transboundary ®shery resources throughout the world is
based on proper scienti®c information and analysis, and
it is followed by negotiation on overall yield and ®shing
e€ort, and appropriate shares of the allowable catch
between all parties. Further considerations have been
developed from information collected, and evaluations
performed during ®sheries working groups of the Gen-
eral Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean, and
through the GEF Fisheries Activity Centre in Romania.
A brief summary table by ecological category of ®sh
resource is given here in Table 2 (GEF, 1996a,b,c).
Changes in the ecology of coastal wetlands of the Black
Sea
Coastal zone wetland ecosystems occupy large areas
and link the huge catchment area with the Black Sea
itself. Wetlands are highly productive ecosystems whose
State of stocks
Stock size of most small pelagics has partially recovered from
Mnemiopsis-caused depletion, which began in the early 1990s.
Decline in stocks in most areas
Some species as giant sturgeon are endangered, others are depleted
Recovering
Declining in many years
Maybe used to increase plant and animal diversity
Depleted and rare
Unexploited, large biomass in some countries
Overexploited in Turkey and Bulgaria
Expanding stock area
Stock heavily ®shed throughout Mediterranean, Aegean, Mar-
mara and drastic reduction of immigration into the Black Sea
formation, functioning and characteristics are deter-
mined by the water regime. They support a unique di-
versity of ¯ora and fauna because of the constant in¯ow
of water and alternating dry and wet periods. Limans,
lagoons, estuaries and deltas are the most widespread
types of wetlands in the Black Sea region.
Conservation areas in each country, existing or pro-
posed, are listed in Table 3. The Kizilirmak delta near
Samsun is one of the major coastal wetlands on the
Black Sea coast of Turkey. The delta is approximately
10 000 hectares of natural area consisting of three main
lakes surrounded by extensive reedbeds and marshes. Of
the 420 bird species in Turkey, 309 have so far been
recorded in the delta. Some of these are very rare and
only occasionally seen in Turkey, i.e. the Olive-backed
Pipit, Anthus hodgsoni and the Little Bunting Emberiza
pusilla. Others are threatened on a global scale, such as
the Dalmatian Pelican, Pelecanus crispus, the Pygmy
Cormorant, Phalacrocorax pygmeus and the Red-
breasted Goose, Brenta ru®collis (BSEP, 1994).
The main anthropogenic in¯uences resulting in loss
and degradation of wetlands in the Black Sea region are
draining of wetlands in the interests of agriculture, for-
estry ®shing and construction; dumping dredge spoils
and solid waste; waste discharge (sewage and fertilizer-
polluted water) causing eutrophication; toxic pollutants
(pesticides, industrial and radioactive waste, heavy
metals, organic compounds); over®shing and overhun-
ting of birds and mammals, and overgrazing, which
undermine biodiversity and reduce food resources and
feeding possibilities for wild animals.
Radiation and oil in the Black Sea
The release of large quantities of radionuclides to the
lower atmosphere from the Chernobyl nuclear power
plant in 1986 has implications for the health of the Black
Sea. Clouds containing radioactive material reached the
Black Sea area from 2 May 1986. In addition to direct
31
 Marine Pollution Bulletin

TABLE 3
Conservation areas (modi®ed from GEF Draft Report, 1996a reproduced by permission of BSEP).

Country Coverage by protected areas Critical ecosystems, landscapes, habitats

Ukraine Wetlands
Existing Danube Delta Nature Reserve
Proposed Chermomorsky, Mys Martyan, Karadag, Cape Tarkhankut,
Bolshoy Fontan Cape, Zmeiny Island
Bulgaria Wetlands
Proposed Coketryse bank, Ahtopol Resova river, Primorsko Ropotamo river,
Byala Shkorpilovtz sy, Cape Kaliakra Kamen Briag
Turkey Wetlands
Existing Kizilirmak Delta, Yesilirmak
Proposed Bosphorus
Romania Wetland coasts
Existing Danube Delta Biosphere reserve, Siutghiol lake, Techirghiol lake,
Cape Tuzla, Cape Midya, Mamaia
Proposed Bay
Georgia Wetlands
Existing Kolkheti Nature reserve
Wetlands Coast
Marine Habitats
Proposed Kolkheti National Park
Basin/catchment ecosystems and landscapes
Proposed Adjara National Park, Central Caucasus protected areas
Russia Wetlands
Existing Lake Abrau
Proposed Cape Utrish
Basin/catchment ecosystems and landscapes
Existing Sochi National Park

TABLE 4 Broker, shortly after entering the Bosphorus from the

134
Cs and 137 Cs concentrations and 134 Cs/137 Cs ratios in surface waters Black Sea. The Nassia disaster was just one of 200
(Livingstone et al., 1986). collisions and groundings in the Turkish straits in the
Location 137
Cs (bg mÿ3 ) 134
Cs (bg mÿ3 ) 134
Cs/137 Cs last 12 years, 138 of which have occurred since 1990.
The incident highlighted the enormous demands facing
Black Sea 165 ‹ 14 78 ‹ 4 0.47 the local emergency services. The six littoral states of
Black Sea 70 ‹ 5 35 ‹ 3 0.50
Black Sea 41 ‹ 6 17 ‹ 1 0.42 the Black Sea ocially inaugurated an Emergency
Bosphorus (mouth) 85 ‹ 4 35 ‹ 3 0.48 Response Activity Centre (ERAC) at a meeting in
Bosphorus 74 ‹ 4 35 ‹ 3 0.46 Varna, Bulgaria, 16±18 May 1994. Total oil pollution
input to the Black Sea is estimated at 110 840 t yrÿ1 . Of
fallout, the Black Sea is expected to have received an this, 48% is transported by the Danube river and most
input from the Danube and the Dnepr, both of which of the remainder is introduced from land-based sources
drain watersheds heavily impacted by the Chernobyl through inadequate waste treatment and poor handling
fallout, and the Dnepr which drains Chernobyl itself. of oil and oil products (Table 5). Total oil discharges
The 134 Cs, 137 Cs concentrations measured and 134 Cs/ from the Black Sea coastal countries are 57 404 t yrÿ1 ,
137
Cs ratios calculated from the data obtained during the 52% of the total. Accidental oil spills average 136 t
cruise of the Turkish research vessel R/V PIRI REIS are yrÿ1 and the illegal discharges from shipping are ex-
presented in Table 4. cluded. The amount reaching the Black Sea from bal-
On 13 March 1994, the fully laden Cypriot oil tanker, last water discharges by ships is unknown but thought
the Nassia, collided with an empty freighter, the Ship to be considerable.

TABLE 5
Oil pollution of the Black Sea (t yrÿ1 ) (GEF Draft Report, 1996a; reproduced by permission of BSEP).

Source of pollution Bulgaria Georgia Romania Russian Federation Turkey Ukraine Total

Domestic 5649.00 ± 3144.10 ± 7.30 21 215.90 30 016.30

Industrial 2.72 78.00 4052.50 52.78 752.86 10 441.00 15 379.86
Land-based ± ± ± 4200.00 ± 5169.20 9369.20
Rivers 1000.00 ± ± l165.70 ± 1473.00 2638.70
Total 6651.72 78.00 7196.60 4418.48 760.16 38 299.10 57 404.06

32
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000
In pilot surveys, oil levels were measured in sediments
and seawater. Sediment levels were found to be of
concern near seaports (Odessa and Socchi), but in open
coast and the Bosphorus out¯ow areas, the levels were
relatively low and correlated with lipid content. The
levels of oil and petroleum hydrocarbons in general in
sediments were comparable with those of the Mediter-
ranean. In the EROS measurements of dissolved oil,
rather high levels of fresh oil were observed, especially
near the discharge of the River Danube. Concentrations
of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), particularly toxic
petroleum hydrocarbon compounds, are generally low
and include contributions from petrogenic (oil) and
pyrogenic (combustion products) sources.
The Southern Black Sea, Turkey
The oceanography of the Black Sea has been relatively
well studied and documented. The same, however, cannot
be said for documentation of the levels of marine pollu-
tion, especially in coastal areas. Although a complete
assessment of the pollution throughout the basin is not
currently possible, the consequences of pollution, such as
its e€ect on tourism in the region; loss of biodiversity,
changes in the hydrological balance due to the con-
struction of dams on rivers; and reduction or even col-
lapse of ®sheries have been reported (Murray et al., 1989;
Balkas et al., 1990; Knudsen, 1991; Mee, 1992).
The resources of the Black Sea and its problems are
shared by six coastal countries, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ro-
mania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. For these, there is
a strong need for harmonizing legal and policy objec-
tives and for developing common strategies for the
control of pollution. For this purpose, representatives of
the Black Sea countries drafted their own Convention
for the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution
which was signed in Bucharest in April 1992. Later on, a
ministerial Declaration on the Protection of the Black
Sea Environment was signed by all six Ministers of the
Environment in Odessa in April 1993, in order to set the
goals, priorities and timetable needed to bring about
environmental actions. In June 1993, a three-year Black
Sea Environmental Programme (BSEP) was established.
At the end, a Strategic Action Plan was developed
based on the recommendations in the Bucharest con-
vention and Odessa declaration and was signed by the
countries surrounding the Black Sea in Istanbul in Oc-
Fig. 7 Major Turkish rivers and Black Sea coastal towns.
tober 1996. The signed convention amongst the Black
Sea countries contains a legal framework for the estab-
lishment of a Black Sea Commission and provides
protocols for protection against land-based sources of
pollution, for regulating dumping and for emergency
action in the case of spills of oil or other toxic sub-
stances. This Black Sea Action Plan, BSEP, formed the
basis for the scienti®c and regulatory actions that are
taken to protect the Black Sea.
The overall BSEP objectives as stated in the GEF
Black Sea Environmental Programme are to improve
the capacity of Black Sea countries to assess and manage
the environment, to support the development and im-
plementation of new environmental policies and laws
and facilitate the preparation of sound environmental
investments. The ®rst step in creating the Black Sea
Action Plan was the completion of a systematic scienti®c
analysis of the root causes of environmental degradation
in the Black Sea.
The Black Sea Environmental Programme (BSEP) is
®nanced under GEF which is managed by UNEP,
UNDP and the World Bank. In the Black Sea Envi-
ronmental Programme in order to improve the capacity
and forge new linkages, a system of thematic Working
Parties was established, based upon regional Activity
Centres. Each Black Sea country agreed to host one of
these Centres such as an Emergency Response to oil
spills (Varna, Bulgaria); Fisheries (Constanta, Roma-
nia); Pollution Assessment (Odessa, Ukraine); Coastal
Zone Management (Krasnodar, Russia); Biodiversity
(Batumi, Georgia); and Pollution Control (Istanbul,
Turkey) (Fig. 7). Then, corresponding National Focal
Points were established for each Centre in each of the
other countries such as the Ondokuz Mayys University,
Research Centre of Environment in Samsun, Turkey
which served as the national focal point of the protocol
for protection against land-based sources of pollution of
the Black Sea coast of Turkey. The BSEP has also cre-
ated a Black Sea Data System and a Black Sea Geo-
graphic Information System. For general programme
co-ordination, a programme co-ordinating unit (PCU)
was also established in Istanbul.
General characteristics and populations of the southern
Black Sea coast
The National Focal Point±Ondokuz Mayis Universi-
ty, gathered data for three years during 1995±1997, on
33
 Marine Pollution Bulletin

land-based sources of pollution of the Black Sea coast of pollutants, the streams and rivers are the main sources
Turkey. In addition, it established a monitoring system of pollutants into the Black Sea (Bakan et al., 1996).
for bathing water quality. A total of 33 land-based
pollution source sampling stations and around 30 Rural factors a€ecting the southern Black Sea, Turkish
beaches for bathing water quality were selected (Final coast
Project Report, 1996, 1997). The coastal zone supports extensive agriculture and
The Black Sea coast of Turkey is 1695 km long ex- includes the most productive lands of Turkey (Table 7).
tending from the Bulgarian border in the west to the The most important cereals are wheat, rice and corn.
Georgia border in the east (Fig. 7). The area of the re- The Black Sea region produces almost 9% of the
gion is about 141 000 km2 or about 18% of the total countryÕs total wheat production, about 10% of the
surface area of Turkey. The total population of the re- countryÕs total barley production, 56% of the countryÕs
gion is about 8 000 000 people (Table 6) divided into 14 total corn production and almost 34% of the countryÕs
city centres. total rice production. Rice is grown within the Yesilir-
The topography of the region has a profound in¯u- mak, G okirmak, Kizilirmak and Devrez deltas. Impor-
ence on the distribution of the population and thus tant industrial products produced in this region are
pollution sources along the coast. The Ponthic moun- tobacco and sugar beet and there is some ¯ax seed
tains that extend along the coastline rise sharply within production. This region also produces about 19% of the
30 km of the shore and do not allow for the develop- countryÕs total tobacco, and 20% of the sugar beet. The
ment of large cities. These high and young mountains most important pulse product in the Black Sea region is
have played an important role in the civilization of the bean with 21% of the total and this region produces
Black Sea region. Mountains are also an obstacle for almost 32% of the countryÕs total olives and 81% of the
transportation and so the fairly small population of the hazelnuts, 36% of the countryÕs walnuts, and large
mountains lives in small settlements rather than large quantities of fruit (UNCED, 1992).
cities. Although the climate is favourable, agriculture is
limited, and there are few natural harbours. Development of coastal areas in the southern Black Sea
The longest rivers are the Kizilirmak (1335 km), the In the past, the economy of the Turkish Black Sea
Sakarya (824 km), Yesilirmak (519 km), Filyos (228 km) coast, where nearly 20% of the population is located,
and Melet (165 km). Among these rivers, the Kizilirmak, was based on agriculture, and even though industry has
Yesilirmak and Sakarya drain areas of 78, 65 and 58 been developing rapidly, agricultural activity is still im-
thousand km2 , respectively. These ¯ow year round, portant. Industrial development, supported by the gov-
though after heavy rains and snow melting, the level of ernment and private enterprise, is mostly concentrated
the water increases. However, the Black Sea region of in the Samsun area, but its distribution is in¯uenced by
Turkey is not rich in lakes; there are ice-lakes at the west the availability of agricultural products, by population
side of the region but they are small. The only large lake density, and by the presence of transport facilities in-
is the Uzun (12 km2 ). cluding ports and railways. Such industrial development
The topography of the Black Sea region a€ects the puts heavy stress on valuable agricultural areas such as,
direct discharges to the sea. Some cities and towns use for example, those where the best quality tobacco is
sewerage systems, but small towns use septic tanks. grown. Some of these agricultural areas have already
Present sewerage systems are mainly old, but new sys- been replaced by industry and now su€er from indus-
tems are being constructed. For domestic and industrial trial pollution. The Black Sea coast is poorly developed
for tourism, mostly due to the less favourable climate
compared with that of the Aegean and the Mediterra-
TABLE 6 nean coast. The government is making e€orts to up-
Cities at the Black Sea region of Turkey (UNCED, 1992). grade and promote tourism along the Black Sea (Balkas
City Surface area (km2 ) Population (1990) et al., 1990; Final Project Reports, 1995, 1996, 1997).
During recent developments, large amounts of mate-
Amasya 5520 285 729 rial were dumped in coastalwaters. This a€ected water
Artvin 7436 212 833
Bolu 11 051 536 869
C
ß orum 12 820 609 863
Giresuna 6934 490 087 TABLE 7
Gumu´hane 10 227 169 375 Breakdown of agricultural production in the Black Sea region of
Kastamonu 13 108 423 611 Turkey (UNCED, 1992).
Ordua 6001 830 105
Rizea 3920 348 776 Crop Proportion in the total production (%)
Samsuna 9579 1 158 400
Sinopa 5862 256 153 Cereals 85.1
Tokat 9958 719 251 Industrial plants 5.8
Trabzona 4685 795 849 Oily seeds 1.8
Zonguldaka 8629 1 073 563 Pulses 4.3
a Lump plants 3.0
Cities on the coastal zone of the region.

34
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000

quality, especially turbidity and transparency. Filter- Land-Based Pollution

feeding organisms were most a€ected; the macro¯ora in
the rocky zones of shallow waters diminished greatly,
both in quality and quantity, and the most important
perennial brown alga Cystoseria barbata, once very
abundant and sheltering a rich fauna, has su€ered
greatly. Human impact, combined with some harsh
winters when the sea froze and high water turbidity, did
not allow repopulation (Balkas et al., 1990).
The eastern Black Sea has been exposed to severe
coastal erosion and shoreline recession for the last
30 years. One of the most important reasons for this
is the response of the coast to man-made activities.
As a result of sand mining by people and munici-
palities, the coastal dynamic was changed. Another
important factor was the construction, by ®lled soil,
of a highway near the shore. The wave energy in-
creases by re¯ected waves from these slopes and
causes a seaward sediment transport. Another im-
portant reason for erosion and shoreline recession is
incorrect site selection, planning and design of coastal
structures such as harbours and ®shery harbours
(Yuksek et al., 1995).
Monitoring
Inventories of land-based sources of pollution (LBS)
and coasts in the Turkish Black Sea were made to set up
a valid monitoring programme, using rapid assessment
methods. This permitted convenient assessment of the
e€ectiveness of various pollution control options
(WHO, 1993). In this major study, the physical bound-
ary for the land-based sources inventory was determined
as the borders of the municipalities on the Black Sea
coast of Turkey (Fig. 8). Rivers were treated as Ôpoint
sourcesÕ but whole river basins were not considered.
Di€use sources and storm waters were not included in
the rapid assessment part of the project, and only point
sources that are subdivided into domestic and industrial
sources were considered, and were estimated by apply-
ing the WHO Rapid Assessment technique (1993). The
methods, results and the information gathered from
municipalities were summarized in Bakan et al. (1996).
A summary of inventory calculations for the domestic
sources of each city along the coast of the Black Sea of
Turkey are given in Table 8. There were around 37 000 t

Fig. 8 Locations of the sampling stations: (a) domestic and industrial

discharge stations; (b) river stations.

TABLE 8
Inventory calculations for the domestic sources of each city along the Black Sea coast of Turkey.

Location Populationa BOD5 (t yrÿ1 ) COD (t yrÿ1 ) TSS (t yrÿ1 ) Total N (t yrÿ1 ) Total P (t yrÿ1 )

Sinop 49 111 887 1411 3720 125 45

Samsun 530 508 9250 14 700 36 223 1324 803
Ordu 194 293 3510 5580 14 715 496 180
Giresun 420 941 7604 11 995 31 880 1076 391
Trabzon 457 152 8258 14 011 36 364 1160 424
Rize 50 365 1954 3108 8194 276 152
Zonguldak 301 092 5533 8800 23 194 783 285
a
Only the population on the coast.

35
 Marine Pollution Bulletin

yrÿ1 BOD5 , 60 000 t yrÿ1 COD, 154 000 t yrÿ1 TSS, 5240
t yrÿ1 total N and 2280 t yrÿ1 total P loads entering from
the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Details on industrial
discharges are shown in Table 9.
The region is not heavily industrialized. Although
there are a number of small-scale production facilities
located around settlement areas, there are only four
large industrial establishments along the coast: an iron
and steel complex located approximately 40 km to the
west of the city of Zonguldak which also has a central
chemical treatment plant, a 600 MW thermal power
plant located 20 km east of Zonguldak, and a fertilizer
plant and a copper smelter 20 km east of Samsun. Pol-
lution load calculations were performed for industries
with liquid wastes, in using given waste load factors
(WHO, 1993) for each raw material or process used.
Liquid waste loads were classi®ed as the conventional
pollutants BOD5 , TSS, Total N and Total P, toxic and
other important substances (Table 10). There are
around 6000 t yrÿ1 BOD5 , 4200 t yrÿ1 TSS, 474 t yrÿ1
total N and 137 t yrÿ1 total P loads entering the Black
Sea from the various industries located at each city.
Total domestic industrial and riverine pollution loads
of the major contaminant categories such as BOD, TSS,
TN and TP were calculated for each of the six Black Sea
countries (Table 11). The data for annual loads of the
other countries to the Black Sea are obtained from GEF
(1996a,b,c), which is the most recent comprehensive
assessment of annual ¯uxes of pollutants.
The annual particulate load from Turkish domestic,
industrial and national river sources into the Black Sea
accounts for 7.94% of the total load into the basin in-
cluding the international riverine input. The BOD con-
tribution of Turkey is about 6.07% of the total in the
Black Sea, with similar values for the other parameters
(Table 12).
The pollutant exchange through the straits is not
taken into account in the evaluation given above. Net
in¯ux from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea via the
Kerch Strait, and pollutant exchange via the Bosphorus
Strait between the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea is
presented in Table 13 (Delft Hydraulics Laboratory,
1996; Tugrul and Polat, 1995). There is an important
pollutant input from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.

TABLE 9
The major Turkish industries and their type of waste in the Black Sea region.

Type of industry Probable pollutants and characteristics of e‚uents Location

Food manufacturing (Slaughtering, dairy products, BOD, COD, suspended material, chemical material, Giresun, Ordu, Samsun,
canning of fruits/vegetables/®sh, grain mill and organic material, odour, speci®c pollutants from each Sinop, Sakarya, Trabzon,
bakery products, sugar factories, etc.) type of manufacturing such as sugar, slaughtering Zonguldak
Manufacture of paper and paper products (pulp and pH change, high amount of suspended solids, colloidal Giresun, Zonguldak
paper) and dissolved material, cellulose
Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral product Heated cooling water, suspended solids, some inorganic Ordu, Samsun, Trabzon
(mainly cement factories) salts
Manufacture of wood and cork products Organic from staining and sealing wood products Ordu, Sakarya
Non-ferrous metal basic industries Acid, metals, toxic, low volume, mainly mineral matter Samsun, Trabzon
Manufacture of industrial chemicals (manufacture Acids, mineral elements, suspended solids, caustic, phenols, Samsun, Sakarya
of fertilizers and pesticides, resins and plastics) formaldehyde
Manufacture of textiles Highly alkaline, coloured, high BOD and temperature, Samsun, Zonguldak
high SS.
Non-metallic mineral products Red colour, alkaline non-settleable SS Samsun
Beverage industries (soft drinks) Increase in BOD, suspended material, precipitable Giresun, Ordu, Trabzon
solid material, fat and oil
Tea plant factories Wastes from treatment of tea leaves Rize, Artvin, Trabzon,
Giresun
Cigarettes Wastes from tobacco and its treatment Samsun, Sinop, Trabzon
Coal mining SiO2 , CaCO3 , Al2 O3 , cobalt, cadmium,lithium in coal Zonguldak
ash
Hazelnut Suspended material Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun

TABLE 10
Waste load calculation totals for the important industries present in the Black Sea cities of Turkey.

City Discharge (t yrÿ1 ) BOD5 (t yrÿ1 ) TSS (t yrÿ1 ) Total N (t yrÿ1 ) Total P (t yrÿ1 )

Sakarya 1247 957 766 47.10 27.70

Zonguldak 126 292 262 150 0.46 0.03
Sinop 50 38 15 0.36 0.08
Samsun 5950 2706 2514 419.41 108.40
Ordu 3330 21 27 0.76 0.05
Giresun 17 416 1975 616 0.05 0.04
Trabzon 3232 159 143 6.37 1.12

36
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000

TABLE 11
Annual loads of pollutants from countries surrounding the Black Sea (GEF Draft Report, 1996a; reproduced by permission of BSEP).a

Countries BOD5 (t yrÿ1 ) TSS (t yrÿ1 ) Total N (t yrÿ1 ) Total P (t yrÿ1 )

(I) (II) Total (I) (II) Total (I) (II) Total (I) (II) Total

Bulgaria 4166 3785 7951 6990 27 250 34 240 2483 1985 4468 693 432 1125
Georgia 6434 2180 8614 8830 650 9480 1584 1 1585 435 ± 435
Romania 39 775 ± 39 775 67 310 ± 67 310 89 671 ± 89 671 515 ± 515
Turkey 44 805 18 090 62 895 167 920 4 120 000 4 287 920 6008 12 730 18 738 2257 1713 3970
Russia 1935 23 586 25 521 2030 698 530 700 560 415 13 076 13 491 504 533 1037
Ukrainian 56 261 8030 64 291 104 300 652 630 756 930 39 866 1895 41 761 4271 1163 5434
Int. Rivers ± ± 844 573 ± ± 4 8803 520 ± ± 229 181 ± ± 39 888
a
(I) ± domestic + industrial sources, (II) ± national rivers.

TABLE 12
Distribution of pollutant load totals of all Black Sea countries calculated from the inventory studies in 1995 (GEF Draft Report, 1996a; reproduced
by permission of BSEP).

Component Total BOD (t yrÿ1 ) Total SS (t yrÿ1 ) Total N (t yrÿ1 ) Total P (t yrÿ1 )

Domestic+industrial 153 378 356 932 147 968 8675

International rivers 844 573 48 803 520 229 181 39 888
National rivers 37 684 4 816 511 14 715 2713
Total 1 035 635 53 976 963 391 864 51 276
Percentage of Turkey 6.07 7.94 4.78 7.74

TABLE 13
Pollutant exchange through straits (GEF Draft Report, 1996a; reproduced by permission of BSEP).

TN (t yrÿ1 ) TP (t yrÿ1 ) TOC (t yrÿ1 ) BOD (t yrÿ1 ) TSS (t yrÿ1 )

Kerch strait
Net in¯ux from Sea of Azov 43 900 3100 ± 90 200 1 948 300
Bosphorus strait
In¯ux into the Marmara Sea 190 000 12 000 1 520 000 ± ±
In¯ux into the Black Sea 60 000 10 000 350 000 ± ±

These pollutants are carried through the Don, Kuban,
Protoka and Kalmius Rivers. The nitrogen and phos-
phorus loads are 43 900 t yrÿ1 and 3100 t yrÿ1 , respec-
tively (Sarikaya et al., 1999).
The Black Sea is thus a recipient of high quantities of
pollutants from point and di€use sources. This demon-
strates the signi®cance of control of pollution, not only
from the six Black Sea riparian countries, but also from
all of the countries within the Black Sea basin. In this
respect, every country in the basin is responsible to some
degree for the pollution of the Black Sea. Therefore, co-
ordinated and joint e€orts are essential. Ful®lment of
the commitments and adherence to the recommenda-
tions of the Strategic Action Plans are essential to reach
the goals of reduced pollution and improved water
quality.
As a result of the evaluation of the domestic and in-
dustrial inventories, 33 routine monitoring sampling
stations were selected in Turkey. Among these, six were
industrial discharge channels, six were sewage outlets
and 21 were rivers and streams (Fig. 8). Seasonal com-
posite water samples were collected both from the rivers
and industrial or sewage discharge points, and at each
station, measurements were made of several parameters
using the standard methods given by APHA, AWWA
(1990). Annual discharges of pollutants by each river
and stream are given in Table 14.
Although the concentrations of most of the inorganic
pollutants are fairly low in rivers and streams compared
to domestic and industrial discharges, total annual
pollutant ¯uxes are dominated by rivers and streams.
Industrial and domestic outfalls are important sources
of local pollution, but they account for only a minute
fraction of annual pollutant ¯uxes. This dominating
in¯uence of rivers and streams on annual loads is due to
overwhelmingly high quantities of water being carried
by the rivers and streams compared to domestic and
industrial discharges. Without exception, annual loads
of all pollutants ¯owing into the Black Sea showed
strong correlation with discharge.
Among the rivers and streams, the Sakarya and Filyos
rivers, which are located on the western part of the

37
 Marine Pollution Bulletin

TABLE 14
Annual load of pollutants from rivers and streams along the Turkish Black Sea coast.

Name Discharge TSS BOD COD o-P Total P NH3 ±N NO3 ±N NO2 ±N TKN Detergent
(km3 yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 )

Sakarya river 6.02 217 695 99 805 192 439 1214.4 1201.5 3449 11 354 121 26 703 693.1
Melen stream 1.57 61 818 21 366 68 304 149.6 170.7 565 2006 55 9339 253.7
C
ß ark stream 0.31 32 102 7774 11 524 174.3 247.8 329 690 10 1289 209.3
Alapli stream 0.27 9328 4460 14 539 44.4 60.7 67 550 4.8 647 88.6
Gul
ußc stream 1.19 17 413 32 214 77 277 43.6 77.5 1459 5530 24 3206 180.4
Kozlu stream 0.02 1438 291 864 10.9 12.4 96 71 1.7 76 4.4
Zonguldak stream 0.13 13 258 17 792 29 178 47.9 48.4 214 452 2.9 912 27.7
C
ß atalagzi stream 0.13 85 825 5805 39 072 4.8 19.9 298 315 2.6 557 23.0
Filyos stream 3.22 478 764 46 779 180 102 566.9 574.6 554 2152 93 4777 614.8
Bartyn stream 0.36 38 636 7367 19 812 28.7 36.5 102 81 8.9 394 57.1
Kizilirmak river 7.39 296 815 124 241 307 263 78.8 147.2 6139 7765 141 16 368 1613.9
Mert river 1.06 44 848 20 996 64 010 371.7 473.7 1178 1694 384 441 970.5
Kurtun stream 0.16 108 245 14 772 56 106 157.8 45.8 55 231 10 654 524.8
Yesilirmak river 10.26 71 563 164 153 175 230 3277.7 1126.7 2894 5813 211 16 959 1758.9
Milicß stream 0.43 2666 378 1601 153.9 65.6 6.3 57 4.3 500 524.6
Melet river 0.83 30 059 6515 23 834 97.2 64.6 196 1774 13 997 170.8
Civil stream 0.16 274 2509 3134 27.9 44.6 9.4 22 6.1 246 257.2
Aksu stream 0.97 5233 9073 27 115 84.3 41.2 98 1282 12 640 220.1
Fol stream 0.20 3469 1471 10 091 67.8 67.4 100 483 8.1 158 138.3
S
ogutl
u stream 0.12 4270 1478 7137 28.7 9.4 98 480 2.8 158 73.4
Degirmendere stream 0.87 15 427 11 147 30 560 989.3 1406.7 279 459 17.8 1133 132.0

coast, and the Kizilirmak, Yesilirmak and Mert rivers,

which are located on the eastern Black Sea coast, ac-
count for more than 70% of the total annual ¯uxes of
most of the conventional pollutants (Figs. 9±12). This
ranking is expected because these rivers are the ones
with the highest annual water discharge into the Black
Sea. The only exception to the indicated trend was ob-
served in the annual ¯ux of total P (Fig. 10). In addition
to the ®ve main rivers indicated above, the Degirmen-
dere stream accounts for 24% of the annual phosphorus
discharge into the Black Sea.
Most of the rivers and streams ¯owing into the Black
Sea are polluted with COD, BOD, NO2 , NH3 and P.
Organic pollution resulting from discharges of untreated
domestic waste from the villages through which these
rivers and streams ¯ow appears to be the most impor- Fig. 10 Annual loads of o-P, total P and detergent from di€erent
sources along the Turkish Coast into the Black Sea.
tant problem along the Black Sea coast. The sampled

Fig. 9 Annual loads of TSS, BOD and COD from di€erent sources Fig. 11 Annual loads of NO3 ±N and TKN from di€erent sources
along the Turkish Coast into the Black Sea. along the Turkish Coast into the Black Sea.

38
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000

In addition to inorganic pollutants, concentrations of

Fig. 12 Annual loads of NH3 ±N and NO2 ±N from di€erent sources
along the Turkish Coast into the Black Sea.
rivers and streams are not polluted with NO3 (Fig. 11).
Agricultural fertilizer use, which is the main source of
NO3 in riverwater, is not extensive along the Black Sea
coast due to the low population density and lack of ¯at
 waste treatment programmes, not only in large coastal
erodible land (Ozdemir et al., 1997).
The annual load of pollutants directly from the sew-
erage system of cities located along the Turkish Black
Sea coast are given in Table 15. Cities with high popu-
lations and discharge rates such as Samsun and Trabzon
were the main domestic sources of pollution (Figs.
13±16). Inventory calculations (see Table 10) were
higher than the monitoring results because they include
all the cities, towns and related populations in their
calculations, whereas monitoring results were only the
results of samples collected directly from the discharge
point of sewerage systems of city centres.
In the study of Tuncer et al. (1998), concentrations of
metals, 11 pesticides and PCBs measured in the Black
Sea coast of Turkey were given. Although industrial
discharges do not make signi®cant contributions to the
¯uxes of conventional pollutants, they account for a
signi®cant fraction of metal discharges into the Black
Sea on an annual basis. This is particularly obvious for
Cd, where industries account for approximately 90% of
the annual Cd ¯ux. Among the industries, the copper
smelter located approximately 20 km east of the city of
Samsun accounts for most of the metal discharges. The
Kizilirmak, Yesilirmak, Sakarya, Filyos and G ulußc
rivers are also important riverine sources for Cd, Cu, Pb
and Zn.
11 pesticides and PCBs, including lindane, heptachlor,
heptachlor epoxy, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, p,p0 DDE,
o,p0 DDE, o,p0 DDD, o,p0 DDT and p,p0 DDT were also
measured (Tuncer et al., 1998). Except for lindane, al-
drin and heptachlor epoxy, rivers dominate the ¯uxes of
pesticides into the Black Sea. The highest ¯ux was found
for the o,p0 DDE which is followed by the endrin and
DDD. Each year 316 t of o,p0 DDE, 176 t of endrin and
115 t of DDD are being discharged from the Turkish
coast into the Black Sea. Although the use of DDT in
Turkey has been banned for the last 30 years, approxi-
mately 100 t of DDT are discharged via rivers suggesting
illegal use of this attractive but dangerous pesticide.
Special monitoring studies have also been started with
regard to trace metals, PCBs, pesticides, PAH and re-
lated organic compounds, mainly in water, sediment and
mussel tissues.
The local water pollution due to domestic waste dis-
charges can be completely overcome with domestic
cities, but also in cities along the banks of these polluted
rivers and streams. Industries along the Black Sea coast
have the potential to create local pollution problems for
di€erent pollutants. Among these industries, the Erregli
iron and steel complex has an ecient, operational
treatment plant and does not discharge signi®cant
quantities of any of the pollutants included here. How-
ever, wastes are discharged directly into the Black Sea
without any treatment from the CATES thermal power
plant in the Zonguldak area, the TUGSAS fertilizer
plant and the KBI secondary copper smelter in the
Samsun region. Among these, the CATES power plant
is an important source of suspended particles. The
TUGSAS and KBI plants are important sources of
particularly toxic trace elements and to a certain extent
nutrients as well. It should also be noted that the
TUGSAS and KBI plants also generate substantial air
pollution problems in the region with their high sul-
phuric acid emissions.
Beach quality of the Southern Black Sea
Beach and bathing water quality inventory studies
have also been completed for the Black Sea Coast of

Turkey (Table 16) (Ozkocß et al., 1997). Most beaches on
the Black Sea coast are included in class 1b, which

TABLE 15
Annual load of pollutants from sewerage system of cities along the Turkish Black Sea coast.

Name Discharge TSS BOD COD o-P Total P NH3 ±N NO3 ±N NO2 ±N TKN Detergent
(km3 yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 ) (t yrÿ1 )

Sinop 0.004 596 827 1635 32.7 37.3 85.9 7.3 0.13 114.6 4.7
Samsun 0.008 1600 2054 3037 46.9 62.4 25.6 12.3 1.04 132.0 48.1
Ordu 0.010 886 1946 820 54.9 68.1 19.3 17.1 0.14 44.8 51.8
Giresun 0.004 473 2063 2249 27.9 50.8 16.5 9.5 0.13 128.5 36.2
Trabzon 0.010 1489 2099 2221 69.3 49.8 9.6 30.2 0.13 208.5 118.5
Rize 0.009 276 1477 1282 32.7 43.9 41.8 14.2 0.15 285.5 30.5

39
 Marine Pollution Bulletin

Fig. 16 Annual loads of NH3 ±N and TKN from the cities along the
Turkish Coast into the Black Sea.

Fig. 13 Annual loads of TSS, BOD and COS from the cities along the
Turkish coast into the Black Sea.

TABLE 16
Classi®cation of beaches along the Black Sea coast of Turkey.a

Beach city Classi®cationb

1a 1b 2a 2b 3 4 5

Kocaeli ± ± 2 ± ± ± ±
Sakarya ± 2 ± ± 1 ± ±
Bolu ± 1 1 ± ± ± ±
Zonguldak ± 2 ± ± ± ± ±
Bartin ± ± ± ± 1 ± ±
Kastamonu ± ± ± 1 1 ± ±
Sinop ± 3 ± ± ± ± ±
Samsun ± 1 2 1 ± ± ±
Ordu ± 1 ± ± 1 ± ±
Giresun ± ± ± 2 ± ± ±
Trabzon 1 ± ± ± 1 ± ±
Rize ± ± 1 ± ± ± ±
Artvin ± ± 2 ± 1 ± ±
a
Fig. 14 Annual loads of o-P, total P and detergent from the cities The collection of water samples was done according to WHO (1995).
along the Turkish Coast into the Black Sea. Measurements were of microbiological and biochemical parameters, as
well as physical (light transparency, water colour, surface ¯ow velocity,
surface ¯ow direction) and visual (tar, foam, litter, algae) conditions as
given in WHO (1995) (Final Project Report, 1997).
b
Classi®cation of beaches (WHO, 1995): 1a ± good quality, safe and
fully used; 1b ± good quality, safe and for further development; 2a ±
good quality, unsafe beach; 2b ± safe beach, bad quality of beach and
water; 3 ± unsafe beach, bad quality of beach and water; 4 ± not
suitable for tourists; 5 ± beach not used for bathing.

TABLE 17
State of recreational waters and beaches in the Black Sea coastal area
(GEF Draft Report, 1996a; reproduced by permission of BSEP).

Country Performed Number Percentage Total length

samplesa failed failed of beaches
samplesb samples (km)

Bulgaria 859 45 5 150

Fig. 15 Annual loads of NO3 ±N and NO2 ±N from the cities along the Georgia n.a. n.a. n.a. 160
Turkish Coast into the Black Sea. Romania 1100 n.a. n.a. 170
Russia 1800 200 11 600
Turkey 529 74 14 950
Ukraine 785 348 44 1400
means that the beach and the bathing water quality are
a
always of good quality. However, there is at present Numbers of samples reported are partial and refer to some of the
sample stations along the Black Sea coastal area.
insucient con®dence in this good condition and they b
Failure was judged by exceedence of 1/20 samples: faecal coliforms
are not heavily used. 2000/100 ml; faecal streptococci 400/100 ml.

40
Volume 41/Numbers 1±6/January±June 2000
In the Black Sea coastal region, approximately
10 385 000 people have sewerage coverage and discharge
an estimated 571 175 000 m3 yrÿ1 . The state of recre-
ational waters and beaches in the Black Sea coastal area
is given in Table 17. Regular beach closures occur in
many of the Black Sea countries and, although no cause-
e€ect relationship has been clearly established, there are
increasingly frequent outbreaks of serious waterborne
diseases such as cholera and Hepatitis A. The need for
better sewage treatment is evident, as is the need for
greater transparency in the sharing of information on
this subject.
Conclusions
The waters of the Black Sea have the unfortunate
distinction of having the longest residence time among
all enclosed coastal seas around the world. By com-
parison, the enclosed Mediterranean Sea has the next
longest residence time among enclosed coastal seas,
approximately 90±100 years. The Mediterranean
¯ushes and renews itself three and a half times during
the time it takes the Black Sea to complete its very
sluggish renewal cycle. Moreover, since tides are small
and currents and ¯ushing are weak, in¯ows into the
Black Sea remain relatively close to their source for
long periods of time. Therefore, the pollutant loads
from rivers and outfalls to the Sea move relatively
slowly away from their origins, exacerbating the ad-
verse impacts (Sezer, 1998).
Sustainable development of the Black Sea requires
continued, even enhanced, international co-operation.
The Black Sea Action Plan, BSEP, once adopted by the
six coastal countries, together with the Bucharest Con-
vention, formed a comprehensive framework for sus-
tainable regional management. Special attention was
given to domestic wastewater and toxicity, oil and
grease and nutrient loads in determining the dominant
point sources on the coast, which a€ect human health,
ecosystems, sustainability or economy. For the evalua-
tion of priority areas, several e€ects have been consid-
ered. These are human health, e€ects on drinking water
quality, natural aquatic life, e€ects on wetland and
recreational areas, e€ects on other bene®cial uses of the
sea and e€ects on economy and welfare. For point
sources which discharge oil and petrochemicals, risks of
accidental pollution have also been considered.
Di€erent types of pollutants in domestic and/or in-
dustrial discharges have di€erent e€ects on human
health and ecosystems at the point of discharge and in
the surrounding environment. This surrounding envi-
ronment may be very large and may extend beyond in-
ternational borders. The risks increase proportionally
with the quantity of the wastewater and concentration
of the pollutant.
It was concluded in a study by BSEP that the Black Sea
receives large quantities of domestic and industrial
wastewater which is mostly untreated. The hydrological
cycles of the northern rivers are being signi®cantly ma-
nipulated and the wastewaters discharged into the basin
adversely a€ect the Black Sea. It is expected that the Black
Sea coast will continue to develop rapidly; new townships
and industries and increased wastes, will cause it further
stress. As a result of the manipulation of the northern
rivers, both the quantity and quality of the water reaching
the Black Sea will continue to be reduced considerably. At
present, about 50% of the water consumed goes back into
the river systems without sucient treatment.
The manipulation of rivers ¯owing into the northern
Black Sea and the accompanying increase in the levels of
pollution signi®cantly a€ect ®sheries, which are also
faced with over-exploitation. Many economically im-
portant species of ®sh have disappeared regionally as
well as from the entire Black Sea. Furthermore, in-
creasing nutrient input through rivers and the alteration
in the strati®cation of the coastalwater masses have led
to even more prolonged periods of eutrophication.
Hypoxia is a frequent phenomenon in certain areas in
the northern region. Mass mortalities of the major
species of the food chain accompany the hypoxia in
water masses as large as 3500 km3 . The change in the
ecology of the Black Sea is indicated by the explosion in
numbers of jelly®sh. Signi®cant amounts of oil ema-
nating from some Black Sea countries are transported
across the Black Sea. It is evident that this also poses a
threat, which requires serious monitoring e€orts and
regulatory measures.
In the 40-year period from 1950 to 1990 the phos-
phorus load transported by the Danube alone increased
from 13 000 to 30 000 t, while the nitrogen load soared
from 140 000 to over 700 000 t, most of it the result of
intensi®ed agricultural development and the widespread
use of phosphate detergents. Over the same period, the
amount of organic matter discharged from the Danube
into the Black Sea increased ®ve times, to 10 million
metric t. Since the 1950s, there has been a threefold in-
crease in nitrates and a sevenfold increase in phosphates
in the Dnestr River. In 1991, the Danube contribution
of inorganic nitrogen per year was more than double the
load from the Rhine but less than half the total river
input into the North Sea and four times that to the
Baltic Sea (Mee, 1992).
According to (GEF, 1996a,b,c) the total annual input
of both phosphorus and nitrogen (dissolved and sus-
pended) from the Danube, Dnestr, and the Dnieper is
now on the decline. In 1995, measurements indicated an
input from these three rivers of 40 000 metric t of
phosphorus and 264 000 metric t of nitrogen.
In the 1950s, Phyllophora meadows covered an area
the size of The Netherlands. The meadows were an
important nursery for ®sh, providing nourishment and
shelter from storms; they turned out to be vital to the
maintenance of the seaÕs large stocks of anchovy, turbot,
mackerel, ¯ounder and sturgeon. They also helped
maintain the chemical health of the seaÕs surface layers
by emitting an estimated 2 million m3 of oxygen a year
41

into the water. According to the `Saving the Black Sea
Newsletter', the collapse of the productive ®shery of the
Black Sea since 1988 can largely be ascribed to the ac-
cidental introduction of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis in
the ballast water of ships. As regards the stocks of
plankton-feeding ®sh, harvest rates as high as those in
the late 1980s give pelagic ®sh little possibility of com-
peting with the ctenophores.
Riverine contributions of BOD, TSS and TP loads are
85%, 99% and 81% of the total. This demonstrates the
signi®cance of control of pollution, not only from the six
Black Sea riparian countries, but also from all of the
countries within the Black Sea basin. Although ranking
varies with respect to the type of pollutant, every
country in the basin is responsible for some of the
problems. Therefore, co-ordinated and joint e€orts are
essential to e€ectively implement pollution control.
Ful®lment of the commitments and adherence to the
recommendations of the Strategic Action Plans are es-
sential to reach the goals of reduced pollution and im-
proved water quality in the Black Sea.
Solutions to the Black SeaÕs environmental problems
demand that uniform strict rules be adopted by each
country. It means that the regulations should also cover
those countries which in¯uence the Black Sea environ-
ment through the rivers, mainly Danube, Dneper and
Dnester. This in turn means joint solving of ecological
problems over a very large territory covered by many
states with varying standards of living. In this way, the
environment of the Black Sea is closely linked to the
environmental problems of large river catchments.
The inevitable involvement of economic and political
interests could interfere with the creation of a general
environmental policy for preservation of the Black Sea
environment. Some good results have been achieved in
this ®eld so far (e.g. the Black Sea Environmental Pro-
gramme), but the practical implementation and en-
forcement of the agreements through the hierarchical
administrative channels turns out to be a very dicult
and complicated task.
The ful®lment of the agreements requires that each
country concerned creates an environmental policy
compatible with international objectives. This means
harmonization of legislation and standards, preparation
of e‚uent discharge inventories and mapping of major
pollution sources, harmonization of analytical and lab-
oratory methods and establishment of water monitoring
programmes. These components are stated in the ac-
tivities of the Black Sea Environmental Programme, but
the legislative frame for their realization still does not
exist in all countries in the region.
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