Fish farmers in the Chelyabinsk region discussed the industry's development prospects.

Rising water levels in lakes and reservoirs in the Chelyabinsk region and a new form of state support for pasture-based fish farming are two pieces of good news for the region's fish farmers.
These were discussed in Kunashak at a seminar on the development of the Chelyabinsk region's fisheries complex, "Aquaculture 2025," held by First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Yevgeny Litvinov and the head of the Kunashak Municipal District, Ramil Vakilov.
According to the meteorological service, water levels in South Ural reservoirs have already risen by 10-40 centimeters in 2024. And in 2025, the water level in lakes will rise by an average of another 20 centimeters, and in rivers and reservoirs, by an average of 35 centimeters. Experts believe this will have a positive impact on commercial fish farming.
"Specialists from the Ministry of Agriculture have conducted a preliminary assessment of the volume of fish seed released at fish farms. "We've recorded a 50% increase in fish stocking activity compared to last year," noted the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture. "In light of this, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Chelyabinsk Region Fisheries Association analyzed the situation and determined the need for state support for fish farms in the face of increasing water availability. A decision has been made to reimburse up to half the cost of purchasing fish seed—larvae and juveniles—for whitefish and carp species in 2025. Subsidies are planned to be paid in the fall."
Evgeny Litvinov urged fish farm managers to prepare their subsidy applications in advance and , if necessary, to contact Ministry of Agriculture specialists for advice now.
Fish farmers can also take advantage of another type of state support that has been available to agricultural producers for several years: subsidies for the creation and modernization of agricultural facilities for fish farms that have commissioned fish farms and production facilities.
The First Deputy Minister was supported by Yevgeny Ryndin, Chairman of the Regional Industry Association of Fisheries Employers. He urged his colleagues to actively seek government support, noting that subsidies will help increase the production of fish seed and, ultimately, the production of commercial fish. The association's chairman also briefed the seminar's attendees on the regional fish farm managers, district administration representatives, and agriculture and food departments about the association's work in 2025 and its plans for the coming months.
At the seminar, Rafkat Nurullovich Nigamat'yanov, founder of Balyk LLC, received a well-deserved award. Evgeny Litvinov presented him with a certificate of honor from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Chelyabinsk Region for his contribution to the development of fish farming in the region.
Galina Lapteva, Deputy Head of the Department of State Control, Supervision, and Protection of Aquatic Biological Resources and Their Habitat for the Chelyabinsk Region of the Lower Ob Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, addressed the seminar participants and informed them about federal state control (supervision) in the field of fisheries and the conservation of aquatic biological resources in the region's water bodies. Tatyana Eremkina, PhD, Senior Researcher at the Aquatic Bioresources Laboratory of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, presented a paper on "Reserves and Prospects for the Use of Aquatic Bioresources in the Chelyabinsk Region." Vladimir Borisov, Head of the Chelyabinsk Department of Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources, discussed the work of the Nizhne-Obsky branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Glavrybvod" in the Chelyabinsk Region, aimed at developing the fisheries industry and preserving aquatic biological resources and their habitats.