Agreement on the shore: they are going to restore fishing on the Azov Sea
The All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) will assess the possibility of restoring sturgeon fishing in the Sea of Azov. This was reported to Izvestia by the Rosrybolovstvo, a sub-department of the Ministry of Agriculture. The results of research can be used to justify further fishing or lifting of bans. At the same time the growth of biomass was recorded almost from zero to 3 thousand tons. According to scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences, earlier Ukraine conducted uncontrolled fishing and caused significant damage to this basin. What are the chances of the Sea of Azov to become the fish pantry of Russia - in the material "Izvestia".
How much fish in the inland sea
The restoration of the status of the Sea of Azov as an inland water body after 2014 created conditions for population growth and strengthened supervision over the water area. Between 2014 and 2025, the stock of Russian sturgeon increased from almost zero to 3,000 tons. Sturgeons with a length of more than 120 cm and a weight of 15-20 kg began to be found here again, the press service of Rosrybolovstvo told Izvestia.
Russian sturgeon
Valery Sivochub, President of the Association of Fishermen of Sevastopol and Crimea, confirmed that the Azov Sea has recently seen a significant increase in the sturgeon population.
- For well-known reasons, poaching by Ukrainian fishermen has stopped in this region, - says Valeriy Sivochub. - And after the assessment of sturgeon stocks in the Sea of Azov it will be decided to issue quotas for their fishing.
He is sure that the fishing permit is a matter of the near future. This will be evidence that the fish population has been restored and it will be possible to return to their harvesting.
According to VNIRO, in 2025 in the Sea of Azov there is a ban on commercial fishing for taranja, also continues to be a ban on fishing for sturgeon species of fish. No time limits have been set. The only criterion for maintaining the ban is the size of the sturgeon fish population.
Local authorities expect that the restoration of sturgeon fishing in the Sea of Azov will have tangible economic benefits. This will not only provide additional income for federal and regional budgets, but also an opportunity for businesses to develop, creating new enterprises and jobs in the industry.
What difficulties are encountered in breeding
However, experts are in no hurry to be reassuring. They record a deep restructuring in the raw material base due to global climate change. Over the past 10 years, the salinity of the Sea of Azov has reached a level of more than 15%, Rosrybolovstvo notes.
- Due to the increase in water salinity there has been a shift towards the predominance of marine fish species - tulka and hamsa, - says Anatoly Makoedov, chief researcher of the FIC "Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences" (UNC RAS). - For the time being, the question of the prospects of opening sturgeon fishing is still open.
A flock of hamsa
Thesituation with the Azov Sea ecosystem remains complicated, confirms Dmitry Kutsyn, senior researcher of the ichthyology department of the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of the Kovalevsky Institute. In recent decades, the salinity of the water area has been increasing due to the reduction of freshwater runoff from rivers, especially the Don and Kuban. This is due to water withdrawal for agriculture, industry and climate warming.
- The increase in salinity leads to a reduction in the range of freshwater fish species such as pikeperch, bream and taran," says Dmitry Kutsyn. - More resistant to this process are tulka and hamsa, on which modern fishing is based.
In addition, according to him, warming water leads to an increase in the oxygen deficit and the frequency of freezing events (reduction of dissolved oxygen in the water). Because of this, the state of fish stocks is unstable and requires regular monitoring and research.
One possible solution is the development of aquaculture. In addition to its economic advantages, it reduces the need for commercial catches.
However, it is difficult to establish some types of farms in the Sea of Azov due to its fragile ecosystem and high risks. For example, cage mariculture can suffer from heat waves, oxygen deficiency and possible freezing of the sea in winter, explains Dmitry Kutsyn. That is why restorative aquaculture is practiced in the Sea of Azov - the same release of artificially obtained young sturgeons or the work of spawning and rearing farms to maintain the number of carp species (bream, taran, redfish, shemaya).
Sergey Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, suggests that the cultivation of mussels and oysters in the Sea of Azov may be a promising area. These mollusk species are well adapted to local conditions and can become an important component of the local economy.
Organization of shrimp farms may prove to be economically profitable, given the growing demand for this product, Strategy Partners suggests. In addition, the co-farming of fish, shellfish and algae helps to improve water quality and reduce the ecological load on the ecosystem.
Emergence of new species
Currently, the Russian Federation has formed a plan for the restoration of sturgeon and other valuable fish species, which is included in the concept of sustainable development of the Azov region until 2040. According to expert forecasts, in the long term, up to 5% of the world sturgeon catch could potentially be harvested in the sea.
Ichthyological studies by VNIRO do not confirm the fact of ichthyofauna extinction in the Azov Sea, as well as the reduction of its biodiversity. All aboriginal species of fish, noted in the basin of the Sea of Azov by previous researchers during the XX century, continue to be found here.
Moreover, Rosrybolovstvo notes that in recent decades the water body has been replenished with new species, such as white amur, white and mottled fatheads, Far Eastern mullet-pilengas, Caspian bullhead, medaka, sunny perch, and others. The fauna of the Sea of Azov in years of increasing salinity of its waters can be enriched with Black Sea species (i.e. the number of fish species occurring in this sea can reach 120 and more).
Fish Species and Growth Laboratory
- And thanks to the increase in artificial reproduction, the number of young Russian sturgeon released into the Sea of Azov has been increased from 2-3 million specimens in 2011-2012 to 5-6 million per year at present, - said the press service of Rosrybolovstvo.
How not to spoil the situation
Forecasts for the recovery of sturgeon catches in the Sea of Azov look optimistic, but there are still many uncertain factors, Strategy Partners argue. The increase in biomass to 3,000 tons over the last decade is clearly a positive trend. It demonstrates that recovery processes can be set in motion, but a number of ecological and genetic factors must be taken into account for the transition to sustainable fisheries. The ban on sturgeon fishing has been extended until 2030.
- Despite the observed growth, there is a risk of a premature start of intensive fishing, which could have a negative impact on sturgeon population dynamics," says Artem Suvorov, consultant in the Agricultural and Consumer Sector practice at Strategy Partners. - If, for example, the annual catch exceeds 5-10% of the total population, it can lead to a sharp decline in numbers even with positive biomass dynamics. Therefore, many recommend continuing detailed monitoring and developing an adaptive fish management strategy.
In turn, Yuri Tyutyunov, chief researcher of the FIC "Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences", is sure that at present it will not be possible to follow the optimal scenario.
- This conclusion confirms the expert assessment of ichthyologists of VNIRO, for example, about the impossibility of restoring the Azov pikeperch stock in the medium term under realistic hydrological scenarios and with the actual cessation of maintenance and bankruptcy of the Don floodplain fish farms (spawning and rearing farms), - said the expert.
In the first decade of the 2000s, there was a catastrophic decline in the population of semi-passable pikeperch in the Azov Sea. The number of adults decreased 5-6 times, to 1.8 million specimens. By 2015, the size of the Azov Sea pikeperch population was at one of the lowest levels for the entire observation period - 0.3-0.4 million. As one of the recovery measures, a complete ban on fishing for this species was introduced in 2017. Unfortunately, it has had no effect so far, and no population growth trend has been noted so far, Yuri Tyutyunov concluded.
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