Experts raise the alarm: fish are disappearing in the country. In the early 1950s, one could fish some 50 different species of fish in the Dnipro. According to experts, now this region, previously abundant in fish, has just about two dozen kinds left. Yet mainly crucians are fished. In the 1930s about 40 percent of all Ukrainian fish came from here. “Today they hardly fish half a percent there,” points out Serhii Mezherin, professor of the Shmalhausen Zoology Institute.
According to the scientist, this situation is absolutely unacceptable for Ukraine, as our country is a fishing region. Suffice it to mention the Sea of Azov, which was considered the area with the biggest fishing capacity in the country. “Currently, in fact, it is the poorest region in the country, compared with the potential it had,” says Mezherin. The head of the All-Ukrainian Council of the Fishermen Association of Ukraine Oleksandr Chystiakov adds that this sea is not only fished out, but also almost entirely exhausted.
Ecologists point out that we even do not have rivers as such anymore — almost all of them became estuary-lake areas: from dam to dam. When the water gate is open, water flows; when it is closed, there is marsh. It is very difficult for fish to develop in such conditions. Moreover, despite the definite ban on fishing during spawning season, people continue doing it. Experts stress: you shouldn’t go far, just have a look at any medium-size supermarket. Any season one can buy fresh prohibited fish.
“During all the years of independence no young fishes, which belong in our environment, were put into our rivers. However, they fish everything left in the water by all possible and impossible means,” says Chystiakov.
Today, according to official information, Ukraine’s fish market is 700 thousand tons, that is about 17 kilos of fish products per person. “However, out of these 700 thousand tons, only 100 thousand come from domestic production,” says Vasyl Korotetsky, the former deputy head of the State Fishery.
The State Fishery Committee reports the deep-sea fishery’s annual catch of 240-250 thousand tons. However, these are not counted as being part of the Ukrainian market, but rather the international one. “In view of the fact that the average market price for fish is 20 hryvnias, the fish market today is worth about 15 billion hryvnias. At the same time, we know little about the quality and origin of the fish sold on this market,” says Korotetsky.
If the required measures are not taken, the situation of Ukraine’s fisheries will not improve, especially since every year the climate becomes drier and the temperature rises. However, there is a sufficient number of scientists studying this field in our country, so there are enough reasonable recommendations for the government. Officials are already considering several projects, but specialists worry they may see the same fate as previous programs. For example, now the term of the Fishery Development Program by 2010 will run out, but experts can’t think of any positive changes it made. In other words, the program did not work. To avoid such a result for the new proposals, experts raise the alarm and hope their suggestions will be considered and implemented.
