ARMENIA: VIOLATION OF FISHING BAN THREATENS LAKE SEVAN
Marianna Grigoryan
EurasiaNet, NY
Nov 1 2006
Armenian scientists are charging that violation of a ban on fishing for
whitefish poses a severe challenge to the eco-system of Armenia’s Lake
Sevan, the largest alpine lake in the Caucasus and one of Armenia’s
best-known natural landmarks. In response, the government has pledged
to tighten the ban as of mid-November, but local villagers remain
skeptical, saying that their livelihoods depend on the fish.
Lake Sevan’s famous whitefish, or sig, helped Armenians overcome
food shortages during the energy crisis of the early 1990s, but have
since become threatened with extinction from over-fishing. Unclear
environmental policies on the fish and a lack of economic alternatives
for local fishermen have further complicated matters.
In 2005, the National Academy of Sciences’s Institute of Hydroecology
and Ichthyology and a group of Russian scientists determined that the
number of Lake Sevan whitefish had decreased by 17 times compared
with 1983 levels. While in the mid-1980s the lake contained more
than 11,000 tons of whitefish, supply now stands at only 625 tons,
according to the findings.
To correct the problem, the Ministry of Environmental Protection
introduced a year-long ban on commercial fishing of whitefish in
February 2006, but little attention has been paid to it, fishermen
and scientists say. Blame is placed on the hard-scrabble economic
conditions in the villages surrounding the 1,360-square-kilomter lake.
"Let them give people jobs and we will not fish," said Garik Avetisyan,
a middle-aged fisherman. "What shall we do? Die or what?
If there’re no fish, [our] families will die."
Scientists, many of who favor a long-term ban on fishing for whitefish,
say that the difficult living conditions will only grow worse if the
whitefish population does not increase. In that case, large-scale
commercial fishing may soon become impossible, too. The period from
November through December, when the whitefish spawn, is particularly
critical, they say.
"Only one generation of whitefish remains in the lake today, instead
of several generations in the past," said Boris Gabrielyan, deputy
director of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia’s Institute
of Hydroecology and Ichthyology. "The whitefish is not given time to
spawn and propagate. It is not allowed to do that."
"Our ongoing research this year shows that the situation has become
worse as compared to last year," Gabrielyan continued. "If poaching
continues at the same pace, whitefish will vanish as a commercial
fish type. Whitefish resources have been exploited to an inadmissible
degree."
Meanwhile, as the whitefish population declines, the lake’s eco-system
is beginning to change. Gabrieylan charges that the increased presence
of organic materials on which the fish feed is turning the lake into
a swamp.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has dismissed the claim,
however.
"There can be no discussion about swamps. There is no such thing,"
Artashes Ziroyan, head of the ministry’s Bio-Resources Management
Agency, said. "True, the amount of whitefish in the lake is not
considered sufficient, but together with colleagues from the interior
ministry and other departments, we will manage to preserve the
whitefish [population] during the period of the fishing ban."
Despite the ban, whitefish and its caviar can still be found in
markets and shops.
In Yerevan, which is the largest market for whitefish, prices for
the fish have risen by at least several hundred percent in the last
few years. Whitefish now sell for between 300-500 drams, or roughly
$0.68 – $1.14, per fish in the capital’s markets, and rank among
shoppers as one of the most popular fish.
"The fish is a very useful product," Amalia, a seller at one of
Yerevan’s markets, explained to her customers. Although formerly
whitefish was affordable for nearly everyone, she continued, that
situation has changed within the past few years. "It is in short
supply. That’s why prices for it have gone up."
Commenting on the situation this summer, Minister of Environmental
Protection Vardan Ayvazyan argued that the declining whitefish
population is not "an environmental problem," and suggested that
the ministry can do little in the face of persistent fishing by
economically deprived residents.
"In many cases, our orders are not obeyed, and no minister can say
that during his time in office the control of fishing at Lake Sevan
was good," Ayvazyan told reporters at a press conference. "In reality,
there is a great problem of poverty [there]. Don’t you pity these
people [who live there]?"
Ministry officials say that they will work with the interior ministry
to monitor the lake regularly and watch for whitefish fishermen.
Illegal catches are usually seized, with a report then issued to
the media.
But along the lake itself, some fishermen show little concern about
the ministry’s promises. "There is no ban," they say, smiling. "There
is a way around everything."
Nonetheless, young fishermen pushing a metal boat out onto the sky-blue
lake say that they know the whitefish is under threat.
"When we fished whitefish three or five years ago, we pulled 300-400
kilograms of it with just two sweep-nets," said 24-year-old Garik
Stepanyan, who has been fishing Lake Sevan for six years. "Now I have
11 sweep nets and if I catch 100 whitefish a day, I will consider
that a good day."
Even with stricter enforcement of the ban, local fishermen say that
they will continue to fish. Other options for economic survival
are few.
"We know that it is not allowed to fish whitefish," commented
43-year-old Tigran Khugoyan, a fisherman from the village of Noratus
on the lake’s western shore. "But if your child is hungry and there
is no job, the lake and fishing remain your only hope."
Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the Armenianow.com
weekly in Yerevan.