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 The fact is that the Atlantic Salmon still exist in the Belarus Rivers
Early research by Belarus ichthyologist Dr Vadim Ermolaev and by the NGO Neman Environment Group (Hrodno, Belarus) have indicated that the Atlantic salmonide enter the rivers in the Belarus part of the Neman river basin – the Villia/Neris River and it’s tributaries. In most cases and without any doubt we can say it about Sea Trout (Brown trout) - Salmo trutta. We recorded many spawning nests for this kind of Atlantic salmon in the left tributary of Villia – river Tartak even during this year. Unfortunately we can not say the same things about Baltic salmon - Salmo salar. We have only some anecdotal information from local residents, who claimed they saw Baltic salmon in some rivers.
This year the new project supported by CCB is active in Belarus -“Conservation and restoration of the Atlantic Salmon spawning sites in Belarus rivers”. The project is implemented by the Neman Environment Group from Hrodno (Belarus) jointly the Lithuanian colleagues and with cooperation from the Belarus state environmental departments. In the course of the project detailed information about anadromous salmons in the Belorussian rivers will be collected.
With this purpose, I, Nina Palutskaya, Leader of the Neman Environment Group and environmental scientist from Klaipeda (Lithuania) Dr Antanas Kontautas did the rivers survey within the Villia river basin in the Smorgon region of Belarus on 8-10 June 06.
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 One of the survey objectives was to investigate and record the river bed conditions in the Villia river bars and shallows. This time of the year the river level usually is lower then during the spring flood and it was possible to see the salmon spawning nests through the water, if they were there.
We have traveled downstream by boat from Smorgon to the Mikhalishky village about 60 km. According to Dr Antanas Kontautas the Salmo salar spawning sites are most likely to be found in this particular stretches of the river where there are numerous river bars and pebbly shallows
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 The boat trip has been assisted by the Head of the Smorgon Wildlife Inspectorate Mr Vladimir Marchenko who kindly provided the rubber dinghy with the hanging engine. Because of rain for several days before the trip the water was high and murky and this did not allow us to survey all the spawning sites we planned to. We still managed to locate all the significant river bars and shallows and to make an estimate of their sizes.
Along the Vilia/Neris river stretch from Smorgon to the Gazovka tributary we recorded 14 river bars/shallows, two of which near villages Ashmyanets and Sorgovtsy were the largest, each about 5 ha in size. The rest of the recorded river bars were smaller ranging from 0.3 to 2 ha in size. All of the recorded river bars/shallows are potential Salmo salar spawning sites which require more detailed survey.
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 We have also visited four smaller rivers in the survey area within the Vilia/Neris basin, namely Gazovka, Nidyanka, Losha and Oshmyanka. The river Gazovka in our view does not look like a salmon river, at least judging by the river bed made almost entirely of sand. Unlike Gazovka, the river Nidyanka looks like a typical Sea trout spawning site. The Nidyanka river bed is very similar to that of the river Tartak described in the earlier CCB report. Along the 200 m long stretch of the Nidaynka river we recorded several spawning nests. About 2 km further upstream there is the 2 m high dam compounding the water reservoir. The dam does not have a fish pass
(see photograph).
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 The river Oshmyanka is about 70 km long which makes it perhaps the longest Vilia tributary in the Belarus part of the basin. The river with its fast flow, clear water and pebbly river bed looks like one of the typical rivers in the area where the Atlantic salmons spawning sites are most likely to be found. Because the Oshmyanka river is deeper than the rivers of Nidyanka and Tartak it can provide spawning sites not only to Salmo trutta, but also to Salmo salar . The river Losha, Oshmyanka’s tributary, looks like a potentially salmon river too, but it has 2 m high dam about 4 km upstream near Gervyaty village. The Oshmanka river is regulated with several dams, none of which has a fish pass. The photograph shows the 3 m high Rachunskaya hydropower dam.
The rivers Oshmyanka and its tributary Losha require more detailed surveys with particular focus on the conservation and restoration of the Atlantic salmon spawning sites. It has also been confirmed that some others potentially important salmon rivers in the border land between Lithuania and Belarus will need a detailed survey. This however will require an official permission to visit the restricted border control areas.
Nina Palutskaya,
June 2006
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ATLANTIC SALMON IN BELARUS RIVERS
Nina Polutskaya, Grodno, Belarus,
December 2005
Belarus has always been a land locked country having no direct access to the sea. However, the locally caught sea fish, particularly Atlantic (Baltic) (Salmo salar) salmon and Brown (Sea) trout (Salmo trutta) have been a part of the local diet up until the middle of the 20th century. These fish species migrated seasonally from the Baltic See upstream the river West Dvina/ Daugava and the river Neman/Nemunas to reach their natural spawning grounds in the numerous tributaries.
Dams built on the Western Dvina and Neman in 1950-60s blocked mass migration of Atlantic salmon species upstream to Belarus. From the early 1960s these salmon species have not been even listed among the fish species recorded in Belarus. Environmental research which has been done recently discovers that these species still migrate annually albeit in small numbers upstream the Neris/Vilia river to the upper part of the Neman River basin in Belarus to spawn in the Vilia river tributaries upstream the Lithuanian border.
This fact emphasizes the international importance of environmental conservation measures which need to be taken to protect Atlantic salmon species population and habitats in Belarus.
HISTORY
In the past, Baltic salmon and Sea trout were among common commercial fish species in Belarus. They were routinely found in substantial numbers in fish catches in the river West Dvina/Daugava near the cities of Vitebsk and Polotsk. More abundant source of both salmon and trout were the river Neman and its tributaries including Black Guncha, Lososna, Svislotch, Schara and West Berezina(fig.1)
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 Dr. Kljuk wrote in his “Natural History of the Polish Kingdom” (Warsaw, 1799) that landlords in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania commonly kept in fish ponds Brown trout and Baltic salmon caught on their way back to the sea and that the largest and the testiest salmon were from the Lososna River near Grodno.
In the 19th and the early 20th century Belarus peasants commonly fished for Sea trout and Baltic salmon in local rivers during the spawning season. Ethnographic studies of the time reported that night fishing using torch and harpoon was the most common technique. Local people tell stories about the Polish Army Generals coming from Warsaw to fish for salmon in the Black Gancha river (near Grodno) before the WWII.
In 1959 the Hydro Power Plant was built on the river Neman near Kaunas. The Kaunas Dam did not have any fish ladders installed and completely blocked migration of salmon species to their natural spawning grounds upstream Neman in Belarus. Since then the salmon species in Belarus have been considered extinct and have not been listed in the Belarus official fisheries records.
In Lithuania Atlantic salmon fisheries have not been as badly affected by the dam as in Belarus. Seasonal salmon migration continues in the river Neris/Vilia, which enters Neman downstream the dam. Lithuanian records trace salmon migration upstream up to the Belarus border where the river Neris is changing its name to Vilia. Until recently there were no records of the salmon migration further upstream the river Vilia into Belarus. Recent site visits to the area assisted by the local fishermen and Dr Vadim Ermolaev of the Institute of Zoology and the Belarus Academy of Sciences discovered the salmon spawning places and confirmed Atlantic salmon migration into Belarus rivers.
SITE DESCRIPTION AND METHODOLOGY
In Belarus, Brown trout and Baltic salmon spawn in the river Vilia tributaries – Gozovka, Senkanka, Dudka, Tartak, Petropolsky Brook and Unnamed brook. All of them are in the Ostrovets District of the Grodno oblast. Salmon spawning places have been discovered in the river Villia as well. Salmon species may also be found in the lower Stracha River. But they can not reach their natural spawning ground upstream because of the dam constructed on Stratcha (fig.2).
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 An estimate of the fish numbers reaching the spawning ground is not a straight forward task. Although the rivers are very clean, the visual fish count is not always practicably possible as the fish naturally enter the spawning ground at night. That is why the assessment of the fish numbers is based on the number of the spawning nests found. A salmon female cleans the spawning place first. Then it makes a shallow pit and releases eggs, which are being fertilized by males. Finally, female covers the fertilised eggs with a layer of small pebbles forming a nest where the fertilised eggs will develop until hatched in spring. A nest often looks like a flat rise of clean pebbles on a sandy river bed.
One female normally makes 2 to 3 nests with 2 to 4 males involved in fertilizing eggs. Based on that, an estimate of the fish numbers can be made.
SPAWNING SEASON
The first groups of Sea trout going upstream usually reach spawning grounds in Belarus in the middle of October and spawning lasts until approximately the end of November when the water temperature is 2 to 6 degree centigrade. The Baltic salmon usually arrives in November and spawning may last until the end of December. Compared to Sea trout Baltic salmon is much rarer fish in Belarus and it doesn’t show up in the same rivers every year. In December 2004, for example, there was no spawning salmon recorded in the rivers Senkanka (3 km long river) and Tartak (750 m), and the Unnamed Brook (800 m), due to unusually warm weather for this time of the year.
The estimate of the fish numbers for Sea trout in the year 2004 is given in Table 1 below. It is based on the number of nests found and interviews with local fishermen.
Table 1
River Number of Nests Number of Fish
Tartak 20 32
Senkanka 9 15
Unnamed Brook 8 13
TOTAL 37 60
Although the records for Baltic salmon are not as regular as for Sea trout, they indicate a significant annual variation in salmon numbers in the same river. For example, in the year 1999 the number of nests found in the river Senkanka was greater than in the river Tartak, in the year 2004 it was the other way around. The total estimated number of salmon in two rivers in 1999 and in 2004 was about 30, about one tenth of the total number of Sea trout. The Baltic salmon spawning nests are more likely to be found in the river Senkanka.
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 IMPACTS
The current population of Atlantic salmon species in Belarus is critically low. The most dramatic drop in population was during the 50s and 60s. It was mainly caused by dams built without fish passages and by poaching.
Dams
The river Stracha, tributary to Vilia (see Fig 2) used to be a good salmon river where Atlantic salmon migrated to in large numbers to spawn. This was the fast flowing river with the cold and clean water and the river bed made of sand and pebbles – the most suitable ground for spawning. In the year of 1951 the 3 m tall dam was built near the river mouth to create a reservoir. The dam constructed without a fish ladder cut off migrating salmon from their natural spawning grounds upstream. For several years afterwards until it stopped completely, the local fishermen told, salmon migration continued up to the dam where poor fish gathered in large numbers every late autumn just to get caught by the local people.
In the year 1950 the dam was built on the river Oshmianka (see Fig. 2), which used to be another good salmon river. The dam is more that 3 m tall and has no fish ladder. There is a similar dam on the river Losha, Osmianka’s tributary.
Vatslav Blazhevich, local resident who has been living in the area since he was born 58 year ago, told that up until the mid 60s there were mills and weirs on local rivers, including the river Tartak. The weirs, he told, were constructed in a way not to block the river channels completely leaving free passage for the fish to go upstream to the spawning grounds.
The biggest dam in the area was built on the river Vilia in 1975 near the town of Vileika. The purpose for the dam was to create a large reservoir to supply water to the City of Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The dam was again constructed without any fish passages and completely blocked the salmon migration. The environmental problems associated with the reservoir, as water resources engineers in Belarus are now beginning to recognise, include deterioration of water quality (due to eutrophication, siltation and rotting vegetation) and the negative effects on the river itself (drops in river water lever and water flow due to growing demand for water in Minsk). These problems are becoming a trans-boundary issue as the Vilia river basin is shared between Belarus upstream and Lithuania downstream.
Poaching
Besides the dams, poaching is the second most important reason why the population of Atlantic salmon is almost extinct in Belarus. Historically, poaching activities in the Vilia basin peaked during the 50s and 60s of the last century. Local people still tell stories about wide spread illegal fishing with explosives. Under the circumstances the regulations were difficult to enforce and more often than not, police officers as well as fish inspectors were involved in poaching. No one could make an assessment of the environmental damages done at the time. According to local people, poaching using harpoon and electro-fishing is still going on in the area especially during salmon migration season. It is extremely difficult they say to catch poachers in this distant corner of Belarus as many places are impassable, not accessible by road and inspectors do not have adequate telecommunication equipment, most of the area is still not covered by the mobile network.
Vladimir Marchenko, local environmental inspector says environmental enforcement system in Belarus is in need of improvement. According to him, regulatory and enforcement agencies are more interested in the number of notices issued, not in real prevention and enforcement on the ground. That is why he says inspectors are not always focused on the real issues of the wildlife protection. Environmental regulation is another part of the problem. Atlantic salmon species until recently have not even been officially listed among the fish species recorded in Belarus. Although, both Sea trout and Baltic salmon are now protected species listed in the Belarus National Red Data book, there are no legally defined enforcement measures (e.g. fines, penalties and so forth) for poaching. According to official statistics, only one person has been caught electrofishing for salmon in the Vilia basin in 2005.
MEASURES WHICH NEED TO BE TAKEN TO SAVE ATLANTIC SALMON
In recognition of the international and European importance of Sea trout and Baltic salmon, they are listed in the Belarus National Red Data Book of 2004 under the highest national protection category - category 1 (CR). According to IUCN (International Union for Nature Conservation), category 1 (CR) means species with extremely low and dwindling population which require complex conservation measures to be put in place urgently.
Considering a very low population of Atlantic salmon species in Belarus, it is extremely important to protect the existing salmon spawning rivers and to stop poaching. This can be effectively achieved through:
1. The targeted environmental awareness programme for school children and young adults living in the Vilia basin both in Belarus and Lithuania. The programme can be both national and international (trans-boundary) including production and dissemination of educational materials, site visits, open lessons and especially focused on protection of the salmon rivers and on Sea trout and Baltic salmon migration and spawning. Such project would be best led by an experienced NGO supported by Atlantic salmon ecology specialists and local people;
2. Facilitation of trans-boundary cooperation and information exchange between wildlife inspections of Smorgon and Ostrovets Districts of Belarus and the wildlife inspections of the bordering districts of Lithuania.
P.S. The preparation of this report included data collection, interviews and site visits to the Vilia river basin in December 2004 and 2005. The last visit in December 2005 discovered newly built spawning nests in the river Tartak (see photographs). About 30 nests have been found within the 400-500 m long river stretch, which is about 30% more than found in 2004.
Acknowledgements
The report has been sponsored by CCB. The data collection and site visits have been assisted by Dr Vadim Ermolaev of the Instituite of Zoology of the Belarus Academy of Sciences, Mr Igor Malevich, local ichthyologist from Grodno, Mr Vladimir Marchenko, wildlife inspector from Smorgon and Mr Vatslav Blazhevich, local resident.
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 Tributaries
The Neman has about 1,300 tributaries, with a total length of about 8 thousand kilometres. 105 km are classified as primary tributaries, that is ones that are more than 10 km long.
In Belarus the main tributaries are the Berezina, Shchara, Kotra, Svislotch, Gavja, and of course the Vilia, the largest tributary, which flows into the Neman downstream of Kaunas in Lithuania.
In Lithuania, apart from the Vilia which is here called the Neris, tributaries of importance are the Mjarkis, Nevezhis, Dubisa, Jura, Minia, and Sheshupe, which rises in Poland.
Virtually all the tributaries of the upper and middle Neman originate in wetlands. Wetlands not only regulate the water balance within an area, but also enrich the atmosphere with oxygen, being 3 to 5 times more efficient in doing so than forests. The Dzitva, Zelvjanka, Kotra, Svislotch and some other tributaries rise in extensive wetlands that have been exploited for peat. In the second half of last century a large-scale wetland drainage programme was launched to enable peat extraction. These projects led to straightening and deepening of river beds, which affected both river hydrology and local populations’ quality of life. The Dzitva river provides an illustrative example. As a result of drainage and peat excavation in its flood plain the water level in local shallow wells has dropped by 2 m. There are over 100 partly regulated (straightened) rivers in the Neman catchment in Grodno Oblast.
Many people think, it is changes in river hydrology (through straightening and deepening of river beds), as well as nitrates and pesticides put on land and washed into rivers by rainwater, that have contributed to the disappearance of some fish species. Also to have caused existing fish populations to decline in numbers. For example, old people of Denevithchi village which is located near the Svislotch river report that before the Second World War there used to be enough fish in the river to meet local needs and yet have a surplus for sale. Nowadays, the stock of fish is far less, and to catch a big one is close to impossible, they say.
The Svislotch, a tributary of the Neman, can be considered a typical small river, as vulnerable as any other. Its catchment partly lies in Poland, and for a long time the key pollution source was a tannery in a Polish town, named Krynki. The tannery discharged poorly treated wastewater into the Krynka river, a tributary of the Svislotch. Chromium levels at the Belarus-Poland frontier exceeded the maximum allowable concentration by 20 to 80 times. In the mid-1990’s a wastewater plant was put into operation at the tannery to improve the situation, but the issue of wider cross-border cooperation between environmental agencies of the two countries is still a matter for further development.
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 Augustow Canal
Just a few kilometres upstream from the point where the Neman crosses the borderline between Belarus and Lithuania, it is joined by the Augustow Canal, a man-made watercourse which has connected the basins of the Vistula and the Neman. It is an item of hydro-technical engineering heritage of the 19th Century but has fallen into disuse
The canal was conceived to convey cereals to the Baltic ports, bypassing Prussia and was opened in 1893. It is 101 km long and has 18 locks. All of them were heavily damaged during the First and Second world wars.
Today, the much larger part of the Canal, 80 km long and with 15 locks, lies within Poland. The Belarussian section is some 22 km long and has 3 locks. On the Polish side of the border, the locks are fully operational, the Canal is maintained in an excellent state of repair, people can enjoy water travel on steamboats, rowing boats and canoes. By contrast the Belorussian section of the Canal has been abandoned, and the locks fallen into disrepair. For many years now there have been endless discussions held, at different levels, as to how to renovate this part of the Canal. It is thought that it could become an excellent international tourist attraction, offering a connection from the town of Augustow (Poland), entering the Neman in Belarus, and then downstream to Druskininkai in Lithuania.
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