A fish farm in neighboring Greece. Photograph by Rod Heikell.

Travelers exploring the Aegean and Mediterranean regions by boat in recent years have noticed a change in the sea's once-sparkling and peaceful bays and inlets==and not a change for the better. In some areas, the water would turn a cloudy green, and even emit an awful smell. The culprit, they learned, was fish farms.One couple described their experience in Gulluk Bay on the Turkish coast in an e-mail to sailing.

We were taken by surprise by the large increase in the number of fish farms in this bay from last year to this.... the effect these farms appear to have had on the water quality seems to be substantial. Last year for example the water in the bay at Iassos was clear and so too was the water in Paradise Bay. This year much of the water is very cloudy and unpleasant.... We are all in favour of sustainable fish farming as locals have to make a living and produce food but what is going on in the Bay of Gulluk seems rather excessive."

The couple asked Heikell if the Turkish authorities were doing anything about the problem. Two years later, they have, at least to a degree, shutting down 29 fish farms in lugla province, which includes Gulluk Bay, following reports of pollution. The farms in question had not abided by orders to move to new locations, a proposal of somewhat dubious environmental merit in the first place.

Pollution from the fish farms has been driving visitors away, a major problem in a region dependent on tourism. "The bay area has turned into small cesspools after wire cages, cans, and fishing nets have been discarded in the sea," the Turkish Daily News reported last year. "Today, because of this pollution, yachts from the Blue Cruise line have to turn back before entering the bays and tourists no longer swim in the bays." Local fishermen suffered the effects of the murky and unhealthy waters too, and the fish farms themselves seemed to be faring little better, with 4 million fish deaths recorded at the beginning of 2008.

In 2006, protesters in nearby Didim marched against fish farms, halting plans for a new facility off the coast.