The Mediterranean Sea Is Dying, According to People Who Depend on It

This article originally appeared on VICE Italy.

2022 went down as the sixth hottest year in history since temperatures began being recorded in 1880. As air temperatures continue to climb, so do those in the sea. One of the marine areas most affected by climate change is the Mediterranean, a region warming 20 percent faster than the global average.

In recent years, the Mediterranean Sea has been hit by a series of marine heatwaves that gravely threaten its native species and the livelihoods of people who depend on them. In the summer of 2022, record temperatures of 30.7 degrees were registered off the coast of Corsica, and temperatures six degrees higher than usual were observed in different parts of the sea. 

One 2022 study determined these heatwaves to be responsible for the loss of up to 80 percent of the population of different Mediterranean species between 2015 and 2019. It also estimated that 20 percent of local plants and animals are currently at risk of extinction, while new invasive species are muscling in from tropical and subtropical seas, posing yet another challenge to local ecosystems.

The Mediterranean boasts a unique geography: It is an almost closed-off sea surrounded by densely populated areas, with a large number of rivers flowing into it. Understandably, plastic pollution is also a huge problem. “There are an estimated 1,178,000 tonnes of plastic in the Mediterranean already and 229,000 tonnes are added to that every year,” says Antonio Augeri, founder of Ogyre, a start-up that works with Italian fishermen to collect plastic waste. Over 230 kg of waste has been gathered so far.

This pollution has multiple effects on sea life, Augeri explains. Animals can accidentally eat plastic and microplastics, become ill and die. Hitchhikers can also catch a ride to new ecosystems on floating waste, including “alien species … such as the banded amberjack, the bavosa africana, the pufferfish and the sea walnut,” Augeri says. The first two are fish species, while the last is a comb jelly, which is commonly mistaken for jellyfish but is considered a different animal. They all originally hail from warmer tropical seas.

“The other problem with plastics,” Augeri adds, “is also the additives they can release, which can be toxic to marine ecosystems.” Plankton also absorbs microplastics, which reduce its ability to absorb CO2 and release oxygen, raising sea temperatures in a vicious circle. And since animals in all parts of the food chain are absorbing this type of pollution, humans – the greatest apex predator of all – are eating those plastics and microplastics, too.

That isn’t the only problem facing the marine ecosystem, Augeri says. “Plastic pollution aside, the main challenges facing the marine ecosystem are the proliferation of algae, which deprive local plants and animals of oxygen and suffocate them; excessive noise from human activities, which interferes with communication between marine species; and the overexploitation of natural resources.” 

On top of that, two wider phenomena linked to climate change are threatening all oceans and seas, including the Mediterranean – rising sea levels and the acidification of the waters. Oceans absorb most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions, as well as CO2 from the atmosphere. Without this buffering effect, changes in climate would be even more dramatic. But the constant introduction of CO2 makes water more acidic, affecting many species’ ability to form protective shells and slowing the growth rate of corals.

Benedetto Carpi works for a fishermen collective of between 50 and 700 people, operating on the seabed near Genoa. They regularly collect waste during fishing trips: bottles, bags, beach equipment, but also cans, tyres, refrigerators – him and his colleagues have seen it all. “In areas where fishing is less frequent, the plastic is already covered by vegetation,” he says.

Over the course of his career, Carpi has observed the Mediterranean change dramatically. Some species, like bacteria and algae, reproduce more easily. Others struggle to reproduce at all. “Fish also used to migrate when temperatures changed, but now they tend to stay at the same depth,” he adds. These days, shrimp tends to stick around in the same areas. “Other fish, like the whiting or the silver scabbardfish, have almost disappeared.”

“Climate change has certainly transformed the world of fishing,” says Giuseppe Emili, president of a seafood wholesale company in Civitanova Marche, on the Italian east coast. “Rising water temperatures have led to the presence of species that had never been seen in the Adriatic [the section of the Mediterranean sandwiched between Italy and the Balkans]. Just think of sea walnuts, which pose a very serious threat to local fishing.”

This type of comb jelly reproduces fast and competes with native species for zooplankton, its primary feed, eventually depriving them of their food sources and leading to population collapse. Meanwhile, species that live close to land, like clams and mussels, are the most affected both by pollution and rising temperatures.

“At the moment, both global fish production and consumption are on the rise and are expected to increase in the coming years,” Augeri says. At the same time, fish stocks have been consistently declining, partly due to overfishing. The industrial fishing operations that drive this trend also serve to crush traditional fishermen.

“How do you compare a 30-metre fishing boat with a 15-metre one? A vessel that fishes 18 hours a day with one that fishes for eight?” Augeri argues, pointing out that the price of the catch has basically stayed the same while labour and fuel costs have gone up sharply. The rising cost of living also doesn’t help, he adds: “Consumers tend to buy poorer quality farmed fish, or fish coming from trawling in the oceans.”

Targeted fishing bans and regulations have been successful in bringing some species back from the brink, like the bluefin tuna. But the market still favours large-scale operations, which use more powerful equipment and fish in the open sea, where the legality of their activities is tougher to keep tabs on.

In the face of such a bleak reality, it is the fishermen themselves who offer a glimmer of light. “At least the amount of debris has changed for the better compared to years ago," Carpi muses, “because tar used to be the main ingredient in the waste we saw coming from ships. Now, with the new [EU] regulations, that is no longer the case.”

The Mediterranean Sea is uniquely beautiful – its blue-green waters feature in holiday Instagram posts from Palma to Paphos, Sorrento to Santorini. But soon, this biodiversity hotspot could become an empty shell of itself. As Carpi puts it, we share a collective responsibility to preserve the natural balance of its ecosystem, “and it all starts with awareness,” he says.