OREANDA-NEWS. August 08, 2008. In accordance with the ecological policy of JSC “RusHydro”, Dagestan Branch of the company together with the specialists from “NPF Aqua resource Ltd.” has been actively re-fishing water reservoirs of Dagestan, reported the press-centre of RusHydro.

Re-fishing of the reservoirs is taking place in the framework of the annual ecological program of Dagestan Branch of “RusHydro”, according to the fish-biological grounds of 2006 approved by the Research-Consultative Board for acclimatization of water inhabitants of the Interdepartmental Ichthyologic Committee. In 2006 more than a million newly-hatched carp were set into the reservoir of Gunib hydropower station.

In the year of 2007 thirty thousand of newly-hatched white amur were released into Chirurt reservoir in the spring; and fifty thousand of newly-hatched white amur were released into the reservoir in the fall. In March and May of 2008 five-hundred thousand of newly-hatched trout were released into the reservoir of Chirkey hydropower station.

It is planned to invest 4 million rubles into the restoration of ecological balance and environment treatment in the areas of Chirkey, Miatly and Chirurt hydropower stations’ reservoirs during this year.

It is a well-known fact that white amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is a natural water reservoirs’ restorer, this fish eats a lot of vegetation, improving water flow and preventing silting.

For two month specialists of research and production firm “NPF Aqua resource Ltd.” grow the fish in the pools rented from Shirokolskij fish industrial complex (Yurkovka village, Tarumovka region of Dagestan Respublic).

At the initial stage the white amurs grow in the natural environment end eat animal plankton. Later ichthyologists put them into special termo-static tanks equipped with an oxygen system. The specialists add some ice into every tank to reduce the water temperature to help the oxygen to dissolve. When the fish is ready for the free waters, the temperature in the tanks has to be equalized with the water temperature in the reservoir, so the fish would not get the temperature shock. To protect very gentle and vulnerable newly-hatched white amurs from the sun shock and the birds the ichthyologists release the fish into the reservoir late at night through special hoses attached to the tanks.

On July 23 workers of Dagestan Branch of JSC “RusHydro” together with the specialists from “NPF Aqua resource” headed by Ruslan Magomaev, director of the research and production firm, and Bagavdin Magomedov, chief pisciculturist, released 74 000 newly-hatched white amurs into the reservoir of Chirurt hydropower station.

White amur lives up to 15 years and grows up to 15 kilogram. Every month specialists working at the Chirurt reservoir perform monitoring of the fish. They measure the length of the fish, weight it, and check the intestine contents of the sample fish.

White amur released into Chirurt reservoir in 2007 has grown a lot, and in average the fish weights 1.5 kilogram and already eats up the soft vegetation.

As the Director of Dagestan Branch of JSC “RusHydro” Timur Gamzatov said: “Here in Dagestan we have perfect conditions to grow the white-fish, not only white amur but white pelad as well.

And we plan to start breeding of white pelad in the nearest future and release it into the reservoir of Chirley hydropower station. We are certain that realization of the annual ecological program of Dagestan Branch of “RusHydro” will positively affect environment of our republic. Re-fishing the reservoirs of hydropower stations with the food fish we do not only improve the operating conditions of our reservoirs but also restore biological diversity of fish, creating favorable environment for recreational zones on the reservoirs banks”.