P51D Mustang - only known airworthy example of an original "Red Tail" (Tuskegee Airmen)

Fishing is one of the main income sources in the Danube Delta and in the same time one of the most depleted resources in this region. Here, where everything is surrounded by water, the man used to peacefully coexist with nature. In the chaos that reigned over the country after 1990 following the regime change, fish stocks have been exploited beyond their sustaining rate with no regard to the ecological impact. Starting with 2006, sturgeon fishing is being banned for 10 years. The ban increased the caviar price with almost 50% and thus made some to risk their freedom. Although the fishermen don’t go for this forbidden species, they always keep what the water brings into their nets, with one eye on the prize and the other one on the neighbor. Still, using illegal nylon nets which capture everything no matter what size or species it is or improvised electrical devices which stun everything in its range, killing or sterilizing it are basic tools for surviving and increasing the profit alike. With the border police involved in the poaching activity, fishermen have to make way, pay a tribute and close eyes before it. In Sulina, in the delta, the bubble is about to burst – the fishermen know that sooner or later, in no more than a couple of years fishing will be halted and they will be no longer able to survive in the most remote part of Romania.

Art dealer in a Tel-Aviv market