Pollution erodes fish stocks and livelihoods in Egyptian lake

Fishermen sail at Lake Qarun in the Ezbat Soliman, while the lake is impaired by severe pollution caused by the unregulated activities of domestic, agricultural, and industrial waste disposal in Faiyum, Egypt, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Fatma Fahmy

Set between irrigated farmland and rocky desert southwest of Cairo, once pristine Qarun Lake used to teem with tilapia, bass and bream and shrimp, offering generous catches to fishermen from surrounding villages.

But pollution from agricultural runoff and industrial and domestic waste has in recent years sullied its beauty and sent those stocks plunging, destroying an industry that had provided jobs for generations, fishermen say.