Special project is developed under the project «Media for Improved Reporting on the Environment and Natural Resources in Central Asia» project funded by the European Union and implemented by Internews
THE SEA OF NOSTALGIA
The giant dredger gave rhythm to the city. It operated day-and-night, digging a canal for ships, so they can sail to the shore.
The Aralsk city at the beginning of the 20th century
Aralsk had everything to make it a real port – it was always in a bustle with its harbor, a shipyard, a fish processing plant, a railroad nearby, and garrisons all around it. Aralsk was sort of 'a city-in-the-city'- completely self-sustainable. Sailors were walking in the streets, there were always visitors from different Soviet Republics, there was an extensive diversity of nations living there.
Aralsk had three major attractions: a harbor, a fish processing plant and clubs – which were the first in the Soviet Union to play rock'n'roll there. The people who grew and lived at the sea told us what the city of their childhood looked like.
Marjan Oteghenova
Age 68
Age 68
She was born in Aralsk, her parents worked in the railway station. She was the first in her family who learnt to read and to write – her father was illiterate and strongly wished his daughter 'to make her way in life'. She has been working as a teacher of Russian and Literature in one of the local schools throughout her life.
— My dad told me that during the war, they faced severe hunger, they used to catch fish, bury it in the hot sand and bake it. They ground fish bones, added water to the fish bone flour and baked lepyoshka (flat round bread).
The sea was a pillar of support for all of us. Our neighbours caught fish, smoked it and sold it. They had a host of children. You go to see them, enter their house and see all of them having breakfast. "Come on, Marjan, come and have breakfast with us!" And they would give you a big piece of fat-laden Aral asp (zherekh), and you stay full for the rest of the day.
When we grew up, we started to go to dancing. In the harbor, at the float boat they had a dance floor. My friends and I were shy to dance, so we used to look at dancers from the bushes. Bolder girls met guys there, and danced with them. Some time later, we had the first Komsomol wedding - one of our classmates got married.
The sea was a pillar of support for all of us. Our neighbours caught fish, smoked it and sold it. They had a host of children. You go to see them, enter their house and see all of them having breakfast. "Come on, Marjan, come and have breakfast with us!" And they would give you a big piece of fat-laden Aral asp (zherekh), and you stay full for the rest of the day.
When we grew up, we started to go to dancing. In the harbor, at the float boat they had a dance floor. My friends and I were shy to dance, so we used to look at dancers from the bushes. Bolder girls met guys there, and danced with them. Some time later, we had the first Komsomol wedding - one of our classmates got married.
Jylkybai Arynghaziev
Age 77
Age 77
He was born in a small fishing village at the Aral sea, right before the World War II. He has got a training to become a sailor, and then sailed in the Atlantic, the Baltic and in the North sea, travelled all around the Soviet Union. Starting from the 70s, he worked as a Deputy General Director of the Aralsk fish processing plant.
— The Aralsk fish processing plant was huge, we've been processing 20.5 thousand tons of fish per year! Just imagine that!
In 1975-76, the water salinity in the sea highly increased, the fish disappeared. We've been thinking: what shall we do, what shall we do?! In 1980, we made a decision to bring flat fish from the sea of Azov. It could live in salty water. I took a lead in bringing it. We brought 20 thousand flat fish species then. How did we manage to transport it? We filled big plastic bags – half of my size - with the sea water, placed fish there, and immediately took a plane to transport it to the Aral sea, where we released the fish to the lake. The flat fish reproduced very well. However, by early 90s, the fishermen had hardly any fishing gear, and they started to ask the government for assistance – but the government was unable to provide any support. At that time, all over sudden we had Danish visitors here who were representatives from the Danish fishermen's trade union. They allocated around USD $ 200,000-250,000 within the framework of "From Kattegat (the name of the strait there, in Denmark) to the Aral Sea" Project. We have purchased the gear. The people started fishing. Kurt Christensen was the leader of the Danish team, he had an assistant with him whose name was Henrik. Today Kurt teaches fishery to Somali pirates, and Henrik works in Tanzania. In July this year, they visited us here, in Aralsk - 20 years have passed since they last came here and helped our fishermen.
In 1975-76, the water salinity in the sea highly increased, the fish disappeared. We've been thinking: what shall we do, what shall we do?! In 1980, we made a decision to bring flat fish from the sea of Azov. It could live in salty water. I took a lead in bringing it. We brought 20 thousand flat fish species then. How did we manage to transport it? We filled big plastic bags – half of my size - with the sea water, placed fish there, and immediately took a plane to transport it to the Aral sea, where we released the fish to the lake. The flat fish reproduced very well. However, by early 90s, the fishermen had hardly any fishing gear, and they started to ask the government for assistance – but the government was unable to provide any support. At that time, all over sudden we had Danish visitors here who were representatives from the Danish fishermen's trade union. They allocated around USD $ 200,000-250,000 within the framework of "From Kattegat (the name of the strait there, in Denmark) to the Aral Sea" Project. We have purchased the gear. The people started fishing. Kurt Christensen was the leader of the Danish team, he had an assistant with him whose name was Henrik. Today Kurt teaches fishery to Somali pirates, and Henrik works in Tanzania. In July this year, they visited us here, in Aralsk - 20 years have passed since they last came here and helped our fishermen.
Madi Jasekenov
Age 57
Age 57
He is the Director of the Aral district museum of local lore. His father was the founder of this museum over 30 years ago. Madi 'merged' with the city, and he knows a lot of stories. He has a carpet in his room with a weaved Aralsk history in it, starting from the time when they received a letter from Lenin to local fishermen (and they sent 14 wagons of fish to the starving Volga region in 1921 - a year of severe hunger).
— The main sound of my childhood is the sound of a dredge hopper. It worked in the harbor day and night dredging canals for ships to pass through. It made a deafening scraping noise. A shift change was at 11 p.m.: the dredge hopper was silent for 15 minutes. We slept outside in summer. You go to sleep with the dredge hopper noise, then, all over sudden, it's silent. OK, it's a shift change, and you go back to sleep. This noise was sort of a cradle song for us. This was a real noise. You get used to it.
When I was 4.5 years old, my dad took me to the sea in a boat for the first time. I was scared very much then, and I thought I would go sailing no more. But later, at the age of 10-12, my friends and I hijacked boats and went boating. We used boards for oars.
When I was a student of the fifth grade, I noticed that the sea receded nearly 20 meters from the original shore. The ships could not come into the berth any more, and we had to expand it now and then. The wooden bridge went further and further into the sea.
The city was very musical. Bands were playing, and people were dancing in the three city clubs. My friend and I were invited to play in the band when we were in the 9th grade, the concert fee was 10 roubles – enormous money at that time.
When I was 4.5 years old, my dad took me to the sea in a boat for the first time. I was scared very much then, and I thought I would go sailing no more. But later, at the age of 10-12, my friends and I hijacked boats and went boating. We used boards for oars.
When I was a student of the fifth grade, I noticed that the sea receded nearly 20 meters from the original shore. The ships could not come into the berth any more, and we had to expand it now and then. The wooden bridge went further and further into the sea.
The city was very musical. Bands were playing, and people were dancing in the three city clubs. My friend and I were invited to play in the band when we were in the 9th grade, the concert fee was 10 roubles – enormous money at that time.
Madi about aral sea. in russian
Bulat Kimbaev
Age 57
Age 57
Bulat is a retired policeman. He served in the navy, and sailed in the Barents sea for 3 years. Then, he joined the police service in Moscow. He came home for two weeks to pack up, and stayed forever. The Aral sea did not let him go.
— When kids, we thought little about the sea – it's always there, so what? Later, when I returned home after my service in the army, I went to the shore (it moved far away from the city then), I saw seagulls and the sand there – and tears welled in my eyes.
When we were in the fifth grade, we used to go to the quay at four o-clock in the morning every day, fished, fried the caught fish, bathed. We used to return home by 11 p.m. If by accident, we had a cut, we did not use any antiseptics, we just strew some sand on a cut, and it healed by itself.
The sea tempts people to come back. The majority of those who left it, miss it. They see the Aral sea in dreams. Not long ago, we had a visitor – ethnic German – from Germany, he left Aralsk when he was a child. He says: "I dream of the sea and cannot do anything about it".
When we were in the fifth grade, we used to go to the quay at four o-clock in the morning every day, fished, fried the caught fish, bathed. We used to return home by 11 p.m. If by accident, we had a cut, we did not use any antiseptics, we just strew some sand on a cut, and it healed by itself.
The sea tempts people to come back. The majority of those who left it, miss it. They see the Aral sea in dreams. Not long ago, we had a visitor – ethnic German – from Germany, he left Aralsk when he was a child. He says: "I dream of the sea and cannot do anything about it".
amateur song ABOUT THE ARAL SEA in Russian
What does Aralsk of today in 2016 look like?
Aralsk today is a typical provincial town. One-story buildings with fretted window trims. The windows have black-out curtains or foil. The sun in the summer is unbearably bright, if you allow it in, ten minutes after your room turns into a sauna.
The city is sanded up. If you go out on a summer day, you will not meet a single man. It is too hot, and too dusty. It was a mild coastal climate before, and now it is a sharp continental climate.
In the old photographs, you can see shipboard cranes loading and unloading barges. When the Aral sea was big, there were several 'metal giants' in the harbor. Today there is only one huge rusty crane left. The local community gave it an affectionate name – 'Ganz'- the crane was manufactured by Ganz Danubius, the Hungarian company.
And it became a custom sign since then.
And it became a custom sign since then.
Rusty 'Gans' is the highest structure in Aralsk today. It is the only shipboard crane that was not dismantled and sold for scrap. It is towering in the city today, resembling saurian. It may be either a symbol or a monument.
All reference books state the following: the Aral reached 'a peak of its economic growth' by 70s of the last century. As soon as the sea was gone, a sharp decline started. The hardest times fall within late 90s – early 2000s. The Aral sea became so saline that even Gloss flat fish was gone. That time the local community has two options to provide for their families: raise stock or cut the shipwrecks for scrap metal.