I spent my entire childhood in Taganrog , a small southern city located on the coast of the sea of Azov. For those who first hear about this sea, I want to say that it is truly unique. This is the shallowest sea on the planet Earth, thanks to which there is a healing silt with bioactive substances on the surface, which is used for the treatment of people by numerous sanatoriums on its coast.

Low salinity makes it possible for both freshwater and marine living organisms to coexist in it. There is a lot of phytoplankton and benthic, in which the main mass is accounted for by shellfish. There are 103 species of fish, which can be divided into four categories. The first are pass-throughs, that is, those that go to the river to spawn. These are Beluga, Sevryuga, herring and fish. The second are semi-passers, which also go to the river to spawn, but can stay in it for a longer period of time. These include: perch, roach, bream, sabrefish. The next – sea. They reproduce and live accordingly. This is the so – iny mullet, turbot, sprat, stickleback, sculpins and so on. And the latter are fish species that enter the Azov sea from the Black sea. Among them are anchovy, mackerel, goatfish, horse mackerel, and others. The unique mammal of Azov is the Azov Dolphin or porpoise. The main mass of fish species is of commercial interest [2].

My grandfather told me that the sea of Azov was once fresh, and there were even sturgeon in it. Although the sea of Azov still exceeds the Caspian sea by 6.5 times, the Black sea by 40 times, and the Mediterranean sea by 160 times in terms of the number of fish per unit area, today it has almost lost its main purpose – fishing [2]. With the development of industry on the coast, the sea ceased to be fresh, the ecological balance was disrupted, which led to irreversible consequences and the death of many species of fish that live in it.
In this report, I want to talk about the environmental problems of the sea of Azov.

Factors that violate the ecology of the sea of Azov

The first and most significant factor that contributes to the pollution of the sea of Azov is the rivers that flow into the reservoir, which receive industrial waste and household water. In recent years, the concentration of rodanides in the reservoir exceeds the standards by 12 times, and the content of phenols has increased by 7 times [1].

Metallurgical plants discharge more than 800 million m3 of untreated waste water every year, which is about 99% of the total volume of discharges into the reservoir. In such effluents, the maximum permissible concentration for iron is 4 times higher, for nitrogen-more than 2.74 times, for copper and petroleum products-2.25 times, and for zinc – 1.75 times [1].

As for household waste, in the coastal areas, the systems for collecting, cleaning and supplying treated water are in extremely poor condition, because some of them were built more than a hundred years ago. In some residential areas, there are no sewage systems that are accompanied by sewage treatment, so polluted water enters the sea through rivers.

The second, but no less significant factor that affects the pollution of the reservoir, are oil products and oil itself.
As a result of sea transportation and active port activity, thousands of tons of fuel oil, sulfur and oil are dumped into the sea of Azov. This leads to contamination of the bottom of the reservoir, coastal Islands, as well as the death of a huge number of fish, mammals and birds, many of which are listed in the Red book.
Although bottom trawling is banned everywhere, which destroys bottom micro-organisms, local fishermen continue to use trawls. These actions are dangerous because such fishing destroys the bottom places where fish and hydrobionts are found, and shellfish, which serve as a kind of filter and feed for most fish, die. In addition, the mud rising from the bottom of the sea extends for several kilometers and significantly reduces the transparency of the reservoir.
To this day, there are dozens of fishing vessels in the sea of Azov that use trawls and hide the final catch, which according to documents is equated to several kilograms, but in fact turns into tens of tons. The consequence of such fishing is a noticeable reduction in fish stocks, and the usual places of spawning and feeding disappear.
A significant threat to the ecology of the sea of Azov is runoff from agricultural activities. They contain a huge amount of toxic substances and numerous pesticides that are used in the fight against harmful insects and mammals.
For example, dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane, once in the sea, can poison a huge amount of ichthyofauna in a short time. Negatively affect fish minerals-nitrates and phosphates. Getting such fertilizers into the reservoir entails global eutrophication, saturation of water with biogenic elements, which, in turn, causes the sea to bloom.
The impressive rate of development of phytoplankton contributes to the appearance of numerous green-blue algae, as well as the imminent death of useful algae and reducing the transparency of the sea.

Continuous construction along the coast that does not comply with environmental and sanitary standards leads to the destruction of the natural state of beaches and forest-Park areas of the coast and the reduction of their health-improving abilities.

The amount of toxic and dangerous substances contained in the sea of Azov directly depends on the permanent disposal of waste in the water column and the elimination of marine platforms, vessels, aircraft structures and artificial marine objects.

Thus, the most important technogenic factors that have a significant impact on the ecosystem of the sea of Azov are:

- Metallurgical and chemical waste from industrial activities and municipal polluted waste water.

- Oil and petroleum products.

- Bottom trawling, which destroys bottom biocenoses.

- Fishing by poachers.

- Construction of reservoirs.

- Saturated chemistry, soil and water contamination, salinity of the reservoir.

- Increasing the uncontrolled discharge of pesticides into the sea of Azov,

which leads to water blooming.

- Intensive construction along the coast that does not meet environmental standards.

- Dumping.

Ways and methods of solving the problems of the sea of Azov
To smooth out the aggravated environmental situation of the sea of Azov, it is necessary to apply a set of measures that depend not only on large industrial enterprises, but also on each person in particular.

These measures should include:

1. Priority change in the development of the sea coast: reducing industrial plants and concerns to a minimum, strengthening control over the activities of shipping transport and ports, reducing dangerous cargo traffic on ships on the sea of Azov, building innovative treatment facilities.

2. A significant reduction in water consumption and an increase in the level of river runoff.
3. Making adjustments to agricultural activities on the coast: minimizing crops that require chemical additives (pesticides) when growing.

4. Significant increase in territories and water areas that require additional protection in order to preserve the gene pool and EcoFund.

5. Continuous monitoring of the quality of the sea coast and water.

6. Stricter measures to protect the coastal area.

But the most important and most important way to solve the environmental problem of the sea of Azov is to stop the release of polluted municipal and domestic water into the open sea and rivers, as well as effluents from enterprises and factories; supply industrial effluents with specialized water exchange cycles and maximize their purification before discharge into the reservoir [1].

Sources:

1. https://greenologia.ru/eko-problemy/gidrosfera/azovskoe-more.html

2. http://ecology-of.ru/water/istochniki-problem-s-ekologiej-azovskogo-morya/

3. https://yandex.ru/images/search?from=tabbar&text=экологические%20проблемы%20азовского%20моря&pos=15&img_url=https%3A%2F%2Factual.today%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F10%2F%25D0%25BF%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B3%25D0%25B0%25D1%2581.jpg&rpt=simage

4. https://taganrogtv.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/%D1%82%D0%B3%D0%BD.jpg