OREANDA-NEWS  The construction of the Crimean bridge had a positive impact on the improvement of the ecological state of the Azov Sea, as the passage of ships through its waters was ordered, the control over the discharge of wastewater by ships was tightened and the use of small-size fleet decreased. This was reported to journalists in the press service of the Azov-Black sea branch of the all-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography.

"Scientists believe that the Crimean bridge also played a positive role in improving the ecological state of the Azov sea in terms of pollution. With the construction of the bridge, the passage of ships through the sea was ordered, control over the discharge of bilge (waste) water by ships was tightened, the use of small-sized fleet in the South - Eastern region of the sea was slightly reduced," the report said. It is noted that the increase in the flow of the Kuban river also had a positive impact on the ecology of the sea.

The press service said that the state of the ecosystem of the Azov Sea was assessed on the basis of studies of water pollution, sediments and hydrobionts conducted in 2018. Pollution of water and sediments by heavy metals, arsenic, organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls was lower than the long-term average, and oil pollution did not exceed the previous years. At the same time, the level of accumulation of toxicants in organs and tissues of commercial and forage fish species correspond to the average long-term indicators and have a pronounced tendency to decrease.

In the Sea of Azov remain local pockets of high contamination to individual toxicants in the Eastern part of Taganrog Bay, waters adjacent to the Northern coast (Bilosarais'ka and Obitochnaya bays) in Arabat Gulf and in the waters of the waters of the Dolzhansky region. At the same time, the concentration of pollution in water and bottom sediments in these areas decreased by an average of two times compared to the data of 2014-2017.

Crimean bridge length of 19 km - the longest in Russia and Europe. The road part of the Crimean bridge was opened on May 15, 2018, the construction of the railway part of the transport crossing continues, the opening is planned in 2019.