The River Luga is
the only river in the Russian part of the Baltic Sea in which naturally wild
salmon reproduce. According to a report published today by HELCOM BASE Project,
there is a decline observed in wild salmon population in the River Luga. The main reason for the decline of wild salmon is
unreported catch, the report states. Unreported catch is mainly occurring in
the lower courses of the river and close to major settlements. ‘Unreported
fishing’ includes illegal fishing (poaching) and overfishing for the needs of
the Luga hatchery. Poaching and concealing catches by professional fishermen is
encouraged by the high market price of salmon and the lack of sufficient control
by law enforcement authorities. In
order to maintain and restore the small population of wild salmon in the River
Luga a management plan must be developed with strong involvement of all
responsible authorities.Photo Sergey Titov &
GosNIORKhRiver Luga was
identified as a key river by (2010) which looked at salmon population habitats in rivers
flowing to the Baltic Sea. Identifying habitats and drawing up management plans
in order to conserve threatened wild salmon population is one of the measures
all Baltic Sea countries have agreed to in
(BSAP) of 2007. The activities in the HELCOM BASE Project support Russia in
fulfilling the commitments made under the BSAP.The report on ‘’ was
completed in the framework of under
.—————-Note for editors: (2012–2014) supports the implementation of the Baltic
Sea Action Plan () in
Russia. BASE addresses altogether three priority areas of the HELCOM BSAP:
eutrophication, hazardous substances, and biodiversity and nature protection.
Within BASE, monitoring activities to support and measure the progress within
the abovementioned segments are also being carried out. The pilot projects
(See: components) are implemented by experts from Russia with the support of EU
experts, while the overall Project, funded by EU, is managed by the HELCOM
Secretariat and St. Petersburg Public Organization “Ecology and
Business”.The Baltic
Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as , is an
intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the
European Union working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from
all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region.
Since 1974, HELCOM has been the governing body of the ‘Convention on the
Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area’, more commonly
known as the Helsinki Convention.* * *For further information, please contact:Marta PlichtaProject
ResearcherHELCOM BASETel: +358 40
669 3090 Skype: helcom55E-mail:
marta.plichta(at)helcom.fi
Sergey RezvyiBASE Pilot project coordinatorBaltic Fund for Naturetel: +7 812 328-9620E-mail: sergey_rezvyi (at)bfn.org.ru
In order to restore the wild salmon population in the River Luga a management plan must be developed with strong involvement of all responsible authorities.
