Representatives of fish farms protest in Yerevan

YEREVAN, December 11. /ARKA/. Representatives of fish farms gathered today outside a government building in the Armenian capital Yerevan to demand a postponement of a government-designed legislative change that obliges fish farmers to shift to more economical, recycling water circulation systems.

The protesters said they were concerned about the threat to fish farms 'due to the reduction of groundwater reserves in the Ararat Valley as a result of water leakage and theft.'

During a previous protest outside the Ministry of Environment about 3 weeks ago, the representatives of fish farms were promised that a discussion on monitoring illegal wells would be held within a week, but no officials have been in touch so far.

A representative of the protesters could not even reach the ministry by phone. "We have come to get an answer as to why these 700 illegal wells are still not closed and water from them is flowing uselessly into the rivers," said one of the protesters.

The protesters said they were ready to discuss the problem with ministry officials if such an offer was made. They emphasized that their protest was not political and was solely related to economic issues. -0-