To reach Chilia Veche, a Romanian town of 1,700 residents in the Danube Delta, one must take a boat from Tulcea and travel for more than three hours along a branch of the great European river. The small fishing port, made up of old cottages and a few buildings from the communist era, is at the heart of this remote region at the edge of Europe, where rivers and canals flow between lakes, forests, islands, and stretches of reeds before emptying into the Black Sea.
The delta, one of the best preserved in the world, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 and later became a cross-border natural biosphere reserve covering 5,200 square kilometers. Several fragile ecosystems have formed here, providing refuge for nearly 3,000 plant varieties and 4,300 animal species, including more than 300 bird species.
This little «corner of paradise» has always been home to Mircea Ghiban, 50, president of the local fishers’ association and a proud descendant of the Ukrainian minority that has lived on this land for centuries. But since February 2022, paradise has been disturbed by the nearby war in Ukraine. Kilia, a Ukrainian town of a population of around 20,000, is visible on the opposite bank, about 200 meters away as the crow flies.
Fishing nets destroyed
The Ukrainian ports on the Danube, which have replaced Odesa as the main hubs for exporting grain and goods, have come under regular attack from Russian drones and missiles, with deafening explosions echoing on the Romanian side as well. Despite this, the Chilia branch has become one of the main entry points for cargo ships traveling up and down the Danube, and shipping traffic has nearly tripled since summer 2022.
Ships destroy fishing nets set in their path, making it almost impossible for some fishers to continue working. In fact, Ghiban has seen a loss of nearly «20% to 30%» of his usual catch.
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