The event was attended by representatives of the Government of the Astrakhan Region, the Federation Council, the Federal Agency for Water Resources, the Volga-Caspian Territorial Administration of Rosrybolovstvo, Glavrybvoda, fishing and fish processing enterprises of the Astrakhan region and the Republic of Dagestan, Astrakhan State Technical University and the Scientific Research Center of the Russian Federation "All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography" (VNIRO).
In his opening remarks, the head of Rosrybolovstvo noted that the Volga-Caspian basin is the oldest fishery basin in the country. One of the most important factors affecting the well-being of populations of aquatic biological resources living in the lower reaches of the Volga and the Northern Caspian Sea is the water regime of the Volga. The low-water years, together with the ongoing shallowing of the Caspian Sea, had an extremely negative impact on the reproduction of a number of types of aquatic biological resources, bringing the state of reserves to dangerously low values.
Kirill Kolonchin, Director of VNIRO, Doctor of Economics, emphasized that the analysis of long-term materials shows the influence of the prevailing features of regulating the Volga runoff in the lower reaches of the river along with the period of low water on the efficiency of natural fish reproduction. The duration of flooding of spawning grounds and other characteristics of high water in most years do not meet the necessary fisheries requirements for normal spawning and production of resilient young fish. With such approaches to the water regime, it is impossible to expect good results for the natural reproduction of fish, there are risks of loss of roach and herring over an interval of several years.
During the discussion, it was proposed to prepare a program aimed at restoring the reserves of aquatic biological resources of the Volga-Caspian Sea and regulating fisheries.
Vadim Nikanorov, Deputy head of Rosvodresursov, reported that when organizing special releases in the lower reaches of the Volga River in 2026, all proposals from the Astrakhan region were taken into account. Given the current water management situation in the Volga-Kama cascade of reservoirs, there is hope that the trend of low-water years will stop or at least be interrupted in 2026. Due to the significant lateral inflow to the reservoirs of the cascade, it is currently not possible to retain water, however, the efforts of Rosvodresursov will be directed at meeting the demands of the fisheries. Everything possible is being done to increase the discharge of Volzhskaya HPP on a daily basis from April 11. And there is hope that the expected high flood volumes will have a beneficial effect on the natural reproduction of fish in the Lower Volga.
"Rosvodresursy plans to conduct research this year to study the actual flooding of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, the western Ilmen River basins and the Volga Delta," said Vadim Nikanorov. "An agreement has been reached with fisheries science to work closely together in this area."
During the meeting, reports were heard on the work on artificial reproduction and fisheries reclamation, the development and prospects of commercial aquaculture. Representatives of the fishing industry expressed concern about the state of stocks of aquatic biological resources and fishing from influencing factors and presented their proposals on these issues.
VNIRO Press Service