Caspian Sea: State of the Environment 2019

Mazandaran Province and broaden their oppor- tunities to earn a living by increasing the avail- ability of farmed rainbow trout (FAO 2016). Aquaculture production in Kazakhstan amounted to a modest 1.7 per cent of total fisheries produc- tion in 2015, and this trend towards limited pro- duction persists (Kazakhstan, Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Statistics Committee 2009–2018). For example, it was only in 2014 that the first limited liability company, Ka- zakh Oseter Scientific and Production Company, was set up in Mangystau. The company produced 6 tons of sturgeon fish in 2016 and 9 tons in 2017. Efforts to promote aquaculture are continuing. FAO has noted that the main reasons for the low level of investment in aquaculture are inadequate incentives for the development of the regulatory framework and insufficient funds allocated to the development of fisheries and technology (FAO 2010). This situation should be viewed in the con- text of general problems with developing the fish- eries sector in Kazakhstan: regulatory issues, high taxes and an overall lack of investment. The poten- tial offered by aquaculture is significant, and could help to protect endangered species and promote economic development through the production of high-value goods like caviar (Strukova et al. 2016). In the Russian Federation, fish-farming compa- nies of all forms of ownership under the respon- sibility of the Federal Agency for Fishery (Ros- rybolovstvo) Directorate for the Volga-Caspian Region released approximately 1,624,836,000 juvenile specimens, including 39.05 million stur- geon fish specimens, 1,585,378,000 ordinary fish specimens and 0.018 million herbivorous fish specimens. In 2014, sturgeon production by Ros- rybolovstvo enterprises reached its highest level since 2009. In 2015, 31.65 million juvenile stur- geon were released into their natural habitat in Astrakhan Oblast. Astrakhan Oblast is one of the largest commer- cial producers of sturgeon fish and caviar in the Russian Federation. Three fish farms – two state and one private – breed sturgeon in the waters of the Caspian Sea and the Volga delta here. More than 90 per cent of all sturgeon, beluga, stellate sturgeon and sterlet juveniles released in Astra- khan Oblast are reared by the fish farms operated

by federal state enterprise Sevkasprybvod, which also coordinates the activities of fish-farming en- terprises in Astrakhan Oblast. It should also be noted that using farmed fish to replenish the sturgeon population is highly effective. At present, the share of farmed fish in catches is 99 per cent for beluga, 65 per cent for sturgeon and 45 per cent for stellate sturgeon. State fishing enterprises in Turkmenistan also catch river fish. The average catch per day for each region is 2.5–3.5 tons, which is sufficient to cover demand (Turkmenstat 2018). In addition, the company Hazar Balyk currently operates a fish farm with a capacity of 100 tons of fish per year, 2 tons of black caviar, 170 tons of smoked fish and 10 million tins of various types of com- mercial fish (Hazar Balyk 2018). To promote growth in the fishing industry, the Government is investing in the development of fish processing as well as efforts to increase the catch. A fish-processing complex with a process- ing capacity of 100 tons of fish per year was suc- cessfully commissioned in 2012. Aquaculture is not risk-free, and the impor- tance of simultaneously restoring natural hab- itats should not be ignored. It is also essential to remember that different types of aquaculture can have an adverse impact on fishing. The fact that catches decline in areas close to fish farms, as a result of pollution and other impacts on lo- cal ecosystems, is well known to fishers (Mar- tinez-Porchas and Martinez-Cordova 2012). There are several potential environmental im- pacts which should be considered. The estab- lishment of fish farms can destroy natural eco- systems, cause soil salinization or acidification, contaminate water sources that were once fit for human consumption, lead to eutrophica- tion and nitrification of ecosystems that receive wastewater, introduce exotic species that may biologically pollute water bodies, contaminate soil and water with medicines, modify land- scape and hydrological conditions that may have unknown consequences for ecosystems, and act as a trap for eggs, larvae, juveniles and adult in- dividuals of various organisms. There are also concerns about high concentrations of toxins

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