Whitefish stocks in Lake Sevan have dwindled. According to the estimates by Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA in 2020, the total whitefish stock in Lake Sevan constituted 2345 tons, out of which the industrial stock made up 586 tons. In 2019, the total whitefish stock made up about 2,800 tons, and the industrial stock was 660 tons.
Against this background, the Environment Ministry has published a draft resolution on the unified website for publishing draft legal acts www.e-draft.am, according to which it is planned to allow industrial hunting of 250 tons of whitefish weighing not less than 400 grams in the whole area of Lake Sevan in 2021.
This project is the continuation of "Whitefish industrial experimental fishing in Lake Sevan" project in 2020, which aims to bring fishermen to the legal field to fight against illegal fishing. According to the official statement by Environment Ministry,
204 tons of whitefish were caught during the whole experimental program.
The decrease in whitefish stocks shows that the pilot project has not achieved its goal, moreover, it can indirectly contribute to the increase in whitefish hunting under the light of legal hunting, i.e. poaching.
Referring to the stocks of other species in Lake Sevan, according to Bardukh Gabrielyan, Director of Scientific Center for Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA, the trout stocks were in the range of 1-1.5 tons in 2019 and 2020. Crawfish stocks in Lake Sevan have fallen sharply. If in 2019 the lake was estimated to produce 200 tons of industrial crayfish, that stock was reduced by half up to 100 tons in 2020.
The Scientific Center for Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA carried out the calculation of bioresources in Lake Sevan within the framework of an agreement signed with Environment Ministry.
March 15, 2021 at 17:49