Estonia, Russia planting salmon in Narva River

  • 2000-05-18
TALLINN (BNS) - A meeting of the Estonian-Russian fisheries working group took place in St. Petersburg from May 15 through May 17, to discuss the organization of salmon fishing in the Narva River and joint restoration of salmon resources.

Over the past year, about 140,000 salmon fry have been released in the Narva River - 40,000 by Estonia and 100,000 by Russia, Enno Kobakene of the Environment Ministry fishing department said.

It is impossible to say how many salmon there are in the river at present, as most of the salmon cannot spawn in the river because of the hydroelectic power plant dam.

"Maybe 10 percent of the salmon released into the river have been able to spawn. At any rate, there should be enough salmon in the Narva at present," Kobakene said. "The possibilities are few that the released fry will multiply naturally, so it would be expedient to fish them out of the river."

The Russian side has banned salmon fishing in the Narva River.The Estonian Environment Ministry is trying to convince the Russians that salmon fishing in the river should be permitted. Kobakene said fishing in a border river must be internationally regulated. Poachers fish for salmon in the Narva River anyway, and so it would be more expedient to issue official licenses to amateur fishermen, he said.