The role of Environmental Management in the economic benefit of Fisheries: an analytical study of the Tigris River in Nineveh Governorate

Purpose: The current research aims to measure the cumulative impact of some negative practices on the Tigris River, specifically some of the negative effects that lead to economic losses on workers in the fisheries industry, and to determine how inefficient environmental management leads to many negative environmental impacts on fisheries. The current research helps to achieve a number of benefits, the most important of which are the economic benefits related to those working in the fisheries industry and calculating the effects and indirect costs resulting from the loss of such wealth as a result of factors and difficulties associated with environmental management, such as job loss, scarcity of resources, and lack of returns, which significantly affected the loss of an important resource. One of the resources of Iraq and Nineveh, which is provided by the Tigris River, is the mineral wealth. Design/methodology/approach: The research used the method of content analysis, specifically the analysis of the records of the Department of Environment, Agriculture and livestock in Nineveh, the records of animal statistics in the Nineveh Statistics Department and the reports of the Ministry of planning, to reach the basic data of the research for analysis. As well as international reports and reports of official authorities in the countries located on the river, as far as they relate to the subject of research. Findings:  The research found that there is a pollution rate in the river that is the highest in Iraq, especially in the last five years, and that the largest percentage of water wastage is in the agricultural field as a result of the use of old irrigation methods, and as a result of inefficient environmental management that led to the loss of a large portion of workers in the fishing field. For their jobs and the shift to fish farming, which has a higher economic return, but at the same time has less benefit to the environment. The research also found the extinction of many fish species, the scarcity of existing ones, and the loss of the natural environment for large numbers of fish species. The subject of the research has also been addressed by a few studies at the level of Mosul, Nineveh, and Iraq. Originality/value: The importance and value of the current research lies in the impact of the functions of managing the aquatic environment in the Tigris River from theoretical and applied points of view on the size and type of fish wealth in the Tigris River, being one of the important rivers on the banks of which about 70 million people live in three countries (Turkey, Syria and Iraq)(Chabuk et al., 2020), and the possibility of predicting the future trends of the Tigris River, whether it is heading towards the extinction of some fish species, and developing management solutions related to water quality and determining their priorities to rebuild that wealth because of its impact on strengthening the economy and increasing economic benefits in terms of increasing employment opportunities and providing a more qualitative form of fish wealth production in Nineveh Governorate