Expert: reduction of water level in Lake Sevan will lead to  irreversible consequences 

ArmInfo.The reduction of water level in Lake Sevan will lead to irreversible consequences, Bardukh Gabrielyan, Director of the Institute of Hydroecology and  Ichthyology, Academy of Sciences of Armenia stated during the press  conference on June 15. "I want to refer to all the public persons-we  must not let the level of water in the lake to reach negative  balance, this will lead to increased water swamping  in the lake", he  stressed. 

According to the ecologist, recently, many suggestions on increasing  extents of water release from Sevan come, particularly, it is planned  to increase 170 cub. M more for 100cub m adopted by the decision of  the Government and the law, related to the lack of water in  reservoirs. Whereas, according to the law "On Lake Sevan", according  to him, there is a resolution on annual increase in the lake's mirror  not less than 1 cm, the scientist noted. "I'm not talking about a ban  on increasing releases, but it is necessary to establish a specific  volume that will not accelerate the rate of swamping the reservoir,"  he said.

At the same time, the water pollution in the lake is affected by the  lack of the proper amount of fish, which is caused by illegal  fishing. According to the expert, all these factors negatively affect  the natural reproduction of fish during the spawning season of  whitefish and trout. "The fact is that there is a catching not only a  large fish, but also a small fish that does not have time to ripen.  We have always said that fish should be considered not only as a n  expensive food, but also as a strategic reserve for our country, "he  stressed, noting that from the total catch of 70-80% falls on small  fish.

According to the estimates of the expert, in case of changes,  particularly, referring to the illegal catching of the fish, in 3-4  years it would be possible to increase fish stocks in the lake by 2.5  times. In particular, he said that, according to studies, last year  the volume of fish stocks after catching and without taking into  account small ones was only 430 tons.

What is to  crayfish, the expert noted that today the requirement for  catching crayfish after molting and breeding period is observed. "If  the crayfish  requirement is met, then why cannot you set a similar  requirement for catching fish?" he concluded.