Tatarstan fishery state and prospects of development

A session, devoted to the issues of fishery development in the republic, was held in the FSBEI “Tatar Institute of Personnel Development” on March 2. It was chaired by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Nazip Khazipov.

The following officials took part in the session: director of the FSBI “State Scientific Research Institute of Lake and River Fishery” Rail Tagirov; head of the department “Water Resources and Aqua-Culture” of the FSBEI HPE “Kazan State Power Engineering University”, professor Marina Kalaida, Doctor of Biological Science; head of cattle breeding department of “Tatar Agrarian Scientific Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Science”, professor Shamil Shakirov, Doctor of Agricultural Science; directors and representatives of agricultural departments of fish farms.

During the session the current state of Tatarstan fish farms, as well as the main problems and prospects of their development under the circumstances of the present economic situation in the country were discussed.

According to preliminary data, today there are 60 fish farms in the republic, where 5 fish farms are pond carp and sturgeon farms.

Nazip Khazipov noted that there are enough water resources in the republic for fish farms. There are over 10,000 ha of ameliorative ponds, 955 ha of fishponds, 950 ha of lakes and rivers. Unfortunately by the current day the overall production of fish for sale is only 500 tons, the resources are not used in full.

One of the main reasons to prevent the development of aqua-culture in the republic is inefficient state financial support of fishery: out-of-date production capacities and technical backup, lack of high-quality fish seed, dependence from import forage, absence of financial support for scientific researches, lack of proper accounting and documentation of fish farms existing on the territory of the republic, lack of infrastructure and logistics. Not knowing the exact number of fish farms, it is impossible to define the volume of financial support, including subsidies to buy forage, fish seed and to get loans.

Rail Tagirov spoke on the importance of scientific researches in fishery and the development of fish farms dealing in fish seed. He supposed, it was scientific researches that was the basis of rational and eco-friendly planning for fish farms, without scientific support it was impossible to increase productivity of fish farms, development of new technologies and technical tools, as well as construction of new venues and conquering of new markets

Marina Kalaida spoke on the necessity to train personnel for Tatarstan fishery. The university trains specialists both for the republic and other regions of the country. It is possible to get good results sticking to the standards of fish keeping, breeding and feeding. The Russian Federation falls behind such countries as China, Japan and Finland in terms of aqua-culture development. The territory of the republic is favourable for both carp and sturgeon breeding.

Shamil Sharirov emphasized the importance to stick to the standards concerning all-mash for fish, to pay attention to the quantity of nutrients in them and the quality of components.

At the end of the session the participant could ask their questions. One of the most important question concerned the state financial support and the participation of fish farms in different state programs, including the programs on subsidizing of fish farms construction. The issues of all-mash production in the republic were also discussed.