Whitefish in Armenia’s lake Sevan dwindle to 6,000 tons

YEREVAN, March 27. /ARKA/. Some 6,000 tons of whitefish remain in Armenia’s Lake Sevan, Vladimir Movsisyan, chairman of the commission that deals with Sevan’s problems, said Wednesday at a news conference in Novosti International Press Center. 

“This is a handful, this is one-fifth as much as we had once,” he said adding that the only way to improve things is to increase the number of whitefish artificially. . 

According to the Zoology and Hydro Ecology Center of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, there were 10,000 to 11,000 tons of fish in the lake in the 1960s with whitefish’s dominance. In the 1990s, the lake’s fish reserve reached 30,000 tons, while in 2000 it dwindled precipitously to 2,000 tons. Only 170 tons remained in 2010 and 8.5 tons in 2011. 

Other varieties of fish, particularly trout, have dwindled as well. 

Movsisyan said that 1.8 million baby fishes have been put into the lake over the last decade, but this can’t put things right. 

“We can’t always increase the number artificially amid the lack of natural growth,” he said. 

Movsisyan explained the situation by polluted streambeds of 28 rivers falling into Sevan, eight hydro power plants on coastal areas and poachers with their close-meshed nets, which caught not only big, but also baby fishes.  

He finds it necessary to instruct hydro power plants to stop operating from April to June, a period when fish spawns. 

Lake Sevan, one of the largest alpine lakes in Europe and Asia, is located in the heart of the Armenian plateau, at an altitude of 1914 meters. The lake stretches over 70 kilometers from northwest to southeast. Its water surface area is nearly 1500 square kilometers. The lake is the main source of drinking water in the region. By 2030, the lake’s level will be raised to 1903.5 meters.  -0-