Armenia government bans whitefish caviar exports for 6 months

At its Cabinet session Thursday, the government decided to apply a temporary—6-month—ban on the export of whitefish caviar from Armenia.

In the explanation of the respective draft decision, it is noted that as a result of the regulation of commercial fishing of whitefish in Lake Sevan, an increase in the biomass of whitefish has been observed in the lake in recent years, and this enables to ensure commercial fishing of a small amount of fish in Lake Sevan. However, the trend of increasing whitefish biomass in recent years still does not ensure the normal growth and optimal number of wild fish species in the lake.

Based on the above-mentioned, it can be stated that Armenia still does not have such a wild fish species, whose caviar has a production value because it is still necessary to continuously increase the amount of the fish species.

As a result of the adoption of the aforesaid decision, it is expected to improve the ecological balance of Lake Sevan, preserve the biodiversity of the ecosystems of the lake and its catchment basin, improve the sustainable use of biological resources, maintain a stable mass of whitefish, and implement productive fishing.