By 1977, the formerly large fish catch at the Aral Sea had declined by over seventy-five percent. Once, the annual catch of fish in the Aral was 50,000 tons. By the early 1980's, commercially useful fish were eliminated, shutting down an enterprise that had employed 60,000. No fish have been commercially taken since 1981.

Wetlands along the shore disappeared as the lake receded, and falling water tables destroyed oases. The remaining water has become very salty. There has been a massive loss of plant and animal species that could not survive the high salinity. One hundred and thirty-five of the 173 species of animals dependent on the lake have become locally extinct. Most animal life in the Aral died as the sea's volume declined from 1,075 cubic kilometers with a salinity of 10 grams per liter, to only 54 cubic kilometers with more than ten times that salinity. Several species of fish unique to the Aral Sea are now extinct. Increased salinity is a result of evaporation and leached cations from irrigated land. This is the environmental consequence of bringing desert soils into agricultural production.

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