Stocking of the Irva Lakes with Fish Started

Last week the first practice of the stocking the “AgroUdora” cooperative fishing grounds with fish was held.

The cooperative leases five fishing grounds on the Irva, the tributary of the Mezen. The members of the Glotovo branch of the “ArgoUdora” – the residents of the village with the same name and the relating villages – are engaged in the fishing on these fishing grounds, mainly for their own needs, according to the allocated quotas. The cooperative is one of the participants of the Model River Mezen project implementation representing the community of the local residents who are above all others interested in the conservation of the fish resources. Therefore, the cooperative is dedicated to the sustainable river management development. The monitoring and maintenance of the fish stock, including the fish stocking, is one of the conditions of such management.

The Chairman of the “AgroUdora” cooperative Gennady Politov

The idea of the stocking the leased areas with fish has been discussed by the “AgroUdora” cooperative members during the last meetings. In the last years, the load on the lakes, and therefore on the fish resources, both on the part of the local population and the amateur fishermen from outside, has increased dramatically; and without support from the people the lakes may soon become empty, which has already happened on two of five fishing grounds according to the fishermen.

It has been decided to support this initiative within the framework of the Model River Mezen project. The first fifteen thousand pike juveniles have been released to the two of five Irva lakes. The juvenile fish release was conducted by a group consisting of the ichthyologist of the FSBI “Komirybvod” Alexey Politov, Silver Taiga Foundation ecologists Nikolay Shuktomov and Nikolay Shilov, and the “AgroUdora” cooperative chairman Gennady Politov.

This is only the first experience and a very small amount so far. The work on the stocking of the fishing grounds leased by the “AgroUdora” with pike juveniles and other species of the local ichthyofauna will be continued next year. In the future the work of the cooperative, Silver Taiga Foundation, and FSBI “Komirybvod” on the development of the sustainable local management of the river resources will be performed according to the plan, based on a trilateral agreement concerning the joint activity with account of the interests and capacities of each party.

The village Krivushevo on the Irva river
Photo: Nikolay Shuktomov

The juvenile fish release
Photo: Nikolay Shuktomov

Silver Taiga Foundation ecologist Nikolay Shuktomov releasing the juvenile fish
Photo: Alexey Politov

Valentina Semyashkina
Translated by Irina Sokolova