Mass fish die-off hits Mosul Dam Lake in Duhok
Shafaq News – Duhok
Hundreds of thousands of dead fish have washed up along the shores of Mosul Dam Lake in southern Duhok, prompting concern from environmental authorities in the Kurdistan Region.
Ramadhan Siyarî, head of the emergency unit at the Peshmerga Environmental Protection Force, told Shafaq News that vast quantities of dead fish of various species and sizes were discovered near the lake's shoreline—particularly in the Khrab Deem area of Simeel district, west of Duhok.
Siyarî outlined three primary factors suspected to be behind the die-off. “First, there’s evidence that individuals have been using poison to fish illegally. Second, the possibility of an infectious disease spreading among the fish population. And third, recent water releases from Turkiye into the Tigris River have disrupted the lake’s ecological balance,” he said.
He added that a three-month fishing ban imposed earlier had failed to protect the aquatic ecosystem, and the incident now represents a serious blow to the region’s fish stocks.
Siyarî confirmed that samples of the dead fish would be sent to specialized laboratories to determine the exact cause of the mass mortality.
Mosul Dam—the largest in Iraq—sits on the Tigris River about 50 km north of Mosul. While its main structure falls within Nineveh province, parts of the reservoir and surrounding lake lie within Duhok province. Built in the 1980s to regulate water flow and generate electricity, the dam remains a strategic water resource and an essential hub for fishery production in northern Iraq. Any environmental disturbances to the dam have immediate implications for communities in both provinces.
