The Threat of Invasive Alien Marine Species to the Blue Economy: The Mediterranean Case

Introduction

One of the most valuable seas in the world is the Mediterranean basin. The Mediterranean region, which hosts a very rich ecosystem, has an important environment not only ecologically, but also socio-politically and economically. Having higher quality and quantity of seafood, it can be said that the Mediterranean plays a critical role in global food security (Yıldırım and Yıldırım, 2021). On the other side, the Mediterranean countries have suffered from the rapidly increasing invasion of foreign fish species in the seas recently. The Suez Canal has been an important corridor facilitating the entry of alien species into Mediterranean waters. However, Leon Vaillant (French zoologist) who predicted this situation, warned policy makers to investigate the effects of the Suez Canal on the marine ecosystem. Looking at today's picture, we have to face the problem with invasive alien species such as giant jellfish (Galil, 2014). Since last decades, the population of invasive alien marine species has increased and almost the numbers of them has been higher than natural species in the Mediterranean.

A study conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden provides evidence that an invasion of alien marine species in the Mediterranean will disrupt the marine food ecosystem. According to Stefan Kalogirou, one of the study team, although the Mediterranean is the region with the most alien species invasion, the lack of information about animal and plant species makes it difficult to examine the subject (Live Science Staff, 2011). Bella Galil (marine biologist), determined that the increasing sea temperature and the rising numbers of invasive alien marine species were the biggest problem in the Mediterranean Sea. According to Galil, the Suez canal would cause the end of current marine biodiversity and ecosystem in the Mediterranean sea when looking higher numbers of invasive alien marine species (increased higher than doubled in the last 30 years) here. For example, there was almost higher population of invasive alien marine species in Israeli. It can be said that each European countries and others in the EU has this risk of invasion (Heller and Debre, 2020). The sighting of the highly venomous lionfish off the coast of Italy is an important indication that invasive species have spread over large areas in the Mediterranean. The lionfish has continued to spread in the Mediterranean in the following years since it was first seen on the Israeli coast by 1991. According to The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), over the past two decades, invasive species have been found mostly in waters near Turkey, Cyprus and Lebanon, and off the Tunisian coast. Since there are no natural predators for species such as the lionfish, the population of these creatures in the local seas is increasing very rapidly and is threatening the extinction of the local species (DW recommends, 2017).