#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company (NTEC) released the first batch of sturgeon juveniles into the Yenisey: this is how Norilsk Nickel is implementing a program to develop bioresources.
NTEC implements the terms of the settlement agreement with the Federal Agency for Fishery, signed in 2022. According to the agreements, the first batch of sturgeon fry this year was released into the Yenisey River – a total of 440 thousand individuals.
Under an amicable agreement, the parties agreed on full compensation for the damage caused to aquatic biological resources as a result of the 2020 accident at CHPP-3 in Norilsk. According to the document, NTEC should replenish about nine thousand tons of aquatic biological resources.
We are talking about the release of 510 million specimens of valuable fish species juveniles: sturgeon, muksun, whitefish, and nelma into the Norilo-Pyasinsky lake-river system’s reservoirs in the period from 2033 to 2050. To this end, the option of building NTEC fish factories for breeding whitefish and sturgeon is being considered.
The Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company intends to purchase fry from operating enterprises of the West Siberian fishery basin until 2033 and annually release three million specimens of young Siberian sturgeon into the Yenisey.
The Yenisey’s need for sturgeon fry is about ten million individuals. At the same time, natural production was almost completely lost. In fish farming, they note that all hope is only for artificial reproduction.
Evgeny Fedorov, Nornickel’s vice president for energy, is confident that the joint work to restore bioresources will bear fruit.
“The fish that will grow from these fry and those that we will launch in the future will still be valuable, but will no longer be rare”, Fedorov said.
It is known that Norilsk Nickel has many years of experience in maintaining and developing biodiversity, the company is doing everything possible to increase valuable biological species in the regions of its presence in order to minimize the production’s negative impact on nature.
The company replenishes stocks of Siberian sturgeon, grayling, salmon, arctic char and other fish species as part of an extensive stocking program, annually allocating tens of millions of rubles for its activities.
Despite the ban on fishing, the sturgeon population is recovering very slowly. During rearing, fish are provided with safety, protection from predators and diseases.
“The Federal Agency for Fishery will constantly monitor and control the dynamics of aquatic biological resources and the ecological situation in their habitat. I am sure that together we will implement the plans that we set when concluding this agreement: fish stocks and the aquatic ecosystem will be fully restored”, commented Ilya Shestakov, the Federal Agency for Fisheries’ head.
Recall that since 2016, Norilsk Nickel has released about two million fry into the Yenisey.
Follow us on Telegram, VKontakte.
Text: Viktor Tsarev, Photo: Norilsk Nickel press office
