Volga and reason: fish will return to the main Russian river
New fishing restrictions are being introduced in the Volga basin. The moratorium on fishing for roaches and roaches will be extended, pike fishing will be banned in winter, and kutum fishing in spring. It has been impossible to catch sturgeon in the main waterway of the European part of Russia for 20 years. One of the main reasons for the disappearance of biological resources in the Volga is its overregulation: the river, in fact, has turned into a cascade of reservoirs. But does this mean that the Volga is no longer able to reproduce resources and the famous Volga fish is finally becoming a thing of the past? Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that it is impossible to say this and there are still chances for the return of commercial fish.
What kind of fish can no longer be caught in the Volga
The Ministry of Agriculture is going to extend the moratorium on industrial and amateur fishing for roaches and roaches in the Caspian Sea, Astrakhan Region and Kalmykia until the end of 2026, as well as introduce restrictions on pike fishing — from December 11, 2025 to February 15, 2026, kutum fishing in the Caspian Sea and the rivers of Dagestan will be stopped from April 1 to May 20..
The press service of the State Scientific Center "All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography" (VNIRO) explained to Izvestia that the restrictions on the extraction of kutum and pike are "not total in nature, but relate to clarifying the timing of the ban for periods when the population of the species is most vulnerable."
Vadim Petrov, Chairman of the Public Council at the Russian Hydrometeorological Service, State Secretary of the National Committee of the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, recalls that in the Volga and the Caspian Sea, a ban on commercial fishing of beluga was introduced back in 2000, and Russian sturgeon and sturgeon have not been caught since 2005. The Volga-Caspian Territorial Administration of Rosrybolovstvo recalls that in 2013, all Caspian littoral states agreed to impose a moratorium on commercial sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea.
— Later, fishing for Volga herring was banned in Russia — this species actually disappeared from the river. Stocks of whitefish, a valuable Caspian salmon, and lamprey have decreased so much that they are no longer considered commercial," Vadim Petrov lists. — In recent years, new moratoriums have been introduced: fishing for roach, pike and kutum in the lower reaches of the Volga and the Caspian Delta is prohibited for the spawning period.
Restrictions do not appear out of thin air: over the past 20 years, roach stocks have more than halved, annual catches have fallen sixfold, and relative to the beginning of observations — by more than 130 times.
"The situation with pike is no better: its commercial catches in the lower Volga have steadily declined and in 2024 reached a critically low level — only about 3.8 thousand tons," Vadim Petrov continues. — According to experts, it will take at least three more years of strict restrictions to restore the roach population, and emergency measures to protect the remaining spawning herds for the pike.
Alexander Fomin, Executive Director of the Association of Industrial Trading Enterprises of the fish Market, explains: pike caviar began to gain market share about 15 years ago and quickly gained popularity.
— Now pike caviar is comparable in price to red caviar. And considering that stocks of red caviar are unstable, the pike perfectly replaced it," he told Izvestia. — As a result, the load has increased significantly in recent years: everyone is trying to catch females during spawning, to take eggs. This upset the balance: pike stocks immediately decreased, but they cannot be restored quickly, because pike need two to three years to produce offspring. Not like sturgeon, of course, which need 25 years, but you still need to limit fishing.
As for kutum, says Kirill Litvinov, Deputy Director for Scientific Work at the Astrakhan Nature Reserve, it is still largely not a Volga fish. In the Astrakhan region, kutum is listed in the regional Red Book, and it is extremely rare in the Volga Region. Typical habitats are the rivers of Dagestan and Azerbaijan, where fish come to spawn.
— It's one of the traditional fish species there, which is even associated with religious traditions. And there are problems there too, primarily with reinterpretation," the Izvestia source explained.
Why do fish disappear from the Volga
Vadim Petrov emphasizes that the main reason for the decline of the Volga's fish resources is a radical change in the river's ecosystem as a result of the construction of a cascade of reservoirs.
—Seven dams on the Volga and three more on the Kama blocked the migration routes of passing fish, depriving them of most of their natural spawning grounds," he said. — Scientists at the Caspian Research Institute of Fisheries have estimated that after the regulation of the Volga River, about 80% of the natural spawning areas of Russian sturgeon, 40% of the northern sturgeon and up to 92% of the beluga were lost. In fact, only the last free section of the river remained for sturgeon migrations — about 450 km from Volgograd to the delta, including the Akhtuba arm.
However, the conditions there are far from ideal, Petrov emphasizes.: The spring flood is decreasing, the estuaries in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain are becoming shallow, which has practically stopped the natural reproduction of sturgeons. In 2024, only a few hundred sturgeons spawned in the entire Lower Volga, which produced about 50 million larvae, whereas in the 80s the number of larvae reached 1 billion per season. And beluga larvae have not been recorded since 2009 at all.
Alexander Novikov, the owner of the Russian Caviar House group of companies and president of the Union of Sturgeon Breeders, emphasizes that only sterlet remains above the Volga hydroelectric power station in Volgograd. But the main thing is the quality of the water in the lower reaches, where more valuable sturgeons may still appear, he is sure.
VNIRO SSC emphasizes that there are many factors affecting the population of Volga fish: unsatisfactory water regime of rivers, IUU fishing (illegal, unreported and unregulated), pollution from industry, agriculture and utilities, water transport, extraction of hydrocarbon raw materials, impact from amateur fishing.
— Equally great damage to the stocks of aquatic biological resources is caused by IUU fishing and the peculiarities of water regime management that have developed in recent years. The pollution factor currently plays a lesser role, — SSC VNIRO is confident.
Kirill Litvinov also notes that it is possible to take measures regarding the hydrological regime of the river by redistributing the flow through dams, changing it in favor of environmental interests rather than individual companies. It is much more difficult to cope with the low water intake, which depends on climatic factors.
— In this sense, dams are probably the lesser evil, — Kirill Litvinov explained. — They will stay, but their work can be influenced. But it is not yet possible to influence the volume of runoff. Current measures — deepening the bottom, for example — cannot really help this. You can dig as much as you want, but the water comes from precipitation, which is decreasing in the Volga basin.
The expert of the direction "Popular Front. Analitika, chief specialist at the Russian Scientific Research Institute for the Integrated Use and Protection of Water Resources, Sergey Yakovlev, notes that poaching, mistakes in the organization of fishing and uncontrolled fishing also play a significant role: when fishermen hide part of the catch. By the way, this is the reason for the ban on catching low-value roach, says Kirill Litvinov: it is enough, but it is very similar to a roach, which allows you to hide the catch of more valuable fish.
— The pressure of amateur fishing is increasing on the Lower Volga and in the Volga Delta, — continues Sergey Yakovlev. — More and more fishing bases are being built every year, and the availability of off-road vehicles allows fishermen to reach previously inaccessible places. Valuable predatory species are particularly affected — pike, walleye, catfish, perch, rapeseed, ide.
The pendulum will swing
Kirill Litvinov emphasizes that now, due to the fall in the level of the Caspian Sea and the reduction of the Volga runoff, a powerful restructuring of the ecosystem is taking place. Fish need to adapt to new conditions, which is also why bans are needed.
—But the prospects are such that this is not the first fall of the Caspian Sea and, I hope, not the last," he said. — I think that after the water level drops, the climate cycle will change, the runoff will increase, and we will already be thinking about how to protect our homes from water. Everything is cyclical. You have to wait for the pendulum to swing in the opposite direction.
The VNIRO Scientific Research Center also notes that the stocks of harvested fish have been increasing and decreasing throughout the twentieth century. For example, in the 60s, a ban on sturgeon fishing was already imposed, and in the 1975-1986-ies, that is, during the operation of all hydroelectric power plants on the Volga, catches in the Caspian basin reached their maximum again. The number of whitefish was completely undermined by the construction of the Volga hydroelectric dam, but scientists created artificial reproduction technologies, a fish hatchery was built, and in the 80s this fish again became a commercial object.
In recent years, according to the VNIRO Research Center, there has been an increase in stocks and catches of walleye and carp. This is facilitated by additional prohibitions and restrictions, and the protection measures taken, and efforts at artificial reproduction.
The Volga-Caspian Territorial Administration of Rosrybolovstvo also told Izvestia that the total ban on fishing for roaches in force since 2025 has already had a positive impact on the natural reproduction of this species. Many fish were able to spawn upstream of the Volga River, and the biological characteristics of the producers improved.
The production of sturgeon by fish hatcheries also helps: in the Caspian basin, over 80% of the young Russian sturgeon appeared precisely because of this.
"This year, specialists from the Caspian branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution Glavrybvod, subordinate to Rosrybolovstvo, released about 27.8 million pieces of juvenile beluga, Russian sturgeon and sterlet into the Volga and its watercourses, exceeding the plan," the department noted. — The volume of the state task for the release of juvenile sturgeon in 2025 has become the highest in the last few decades.
However, Vadim Petrov notes that experts are still cautious: a complete return to the previous catch volumes of the same sturgeon is unlikely, as their numbers have continued to fall for a quarter of a century after the ban was introduced.
— The old, large beluga whales have almost disappeared — they were beaten out by poaching, which does not stop even under a ban, — says Vadim Petrov. — In fact, sturgeon populations are now supported only through artificial reproduction.
But even this will bring results only if the adults survive to spawn and are not caught. And here it is important to deal with poaching pressure. So, in 2002, the illegal catch of sturgeon on the Volga was 15 times higher than the officially registered one, the river was simply emptying. Currently, there are still many violations: the Volga-Caspian Territorial Administration of Rosrybolovstvo noted that since the beginning of 2025, more than 2.7 thousand violations of fishing rules under Article 8.37 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation have already been identified.
— In addition, an integrated approach is important, — Vadim Petrov emphasizes. — Restrictions were often delayed: by the time the moratorium was introduced, many species were already on the verge of extinction. At the same time, quotas continue to be issued for catching "commercial" species — bream, walleye, porpoises, etc. The government is trying to support traditional fishing, but when resources are running low, any additional catch — even formally legal — can worsen the situation. Environmentalists often criticize this approach.
He also admits that there are certain positive results on the Volga, and they give hope. The situation with sterlet has already improved — this smaller sturgeon species spawns in the river itself, bypassing dams, and takes root better with artificial reproduction. There is evidence that some of the Russian sturgeon reaches maturity and begins to spawn, albeit in small quantities. However, it will take at least 10-15 years for the sturgeon to significantly increase the number of sturgeons, or even 30-50 years for beluga and Russian sturgeon, provided that illegal fishing is stopped as much as possible.
What needs to be done first
Alexander Fomin emphasizes that the state needs to monitor fish spawning periods more closely and regulate wastewater more carefully.
— It used to be said that when fish start spawning, you can't ring the bells, that was the attitude. Unfortunately, few people are interested in fish now: the water is discharged before the fish spawns, and all the caviar remains on the shore," he notes.
Vadim Petrov emphasizes that scientists have been calling for many years to restructure the operation of waterworks in order to simulate natural floods in spring. This will help ensure sufficient high water and optimal water temperature in shallow waters. According to him, within the framework of the large-scale program "Volga Rehabilitation", they are trying to solve the problem of spawning areas: for example, a complex of facilities is being built for additional flooding of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, which will allow water to be directed to the main ponds and flood lakes, extending the flood time and preventing them from drying out.
—At the same time, environmentalists are wondering why projects for new fish lifts or bypass channels have not yet been implemented — after all, this is an obvious measure to save migrating fish," says Izvestia's interlocutor. — There is a similar problem at water intakes: Thousands of cubic meters of water are taken up every second for irrigation and industrial needs, sucking in juvenile fish. About 270 large water intakes on the Volga are not equipped with fish protection devices at all.
Kirill Litvinov believes that, despite the existence of government programs, there is still no truly systematic approach by the state to solving the problem. The actions that are issued for the rehabilitation of the Volga, according to him, are poorly connected with its salvation.
Vadim Petrov, however, notes that now the government is just trying to build an integrated approach to the problem: Rosvodresursy are engaged in improving the hydro regime and clearing tributaries, Rosprirodnadzor monitors compliance with environmental requirements, Rosrybolovstvo is responsible for reproduction and regulation of catch, RAS and specialized institutes conduct monitoring and scientific research. However, experts recognize that the measures are insufficient in terms of coverage and speed of implementation.
— It is critically important that the measures taken are scientifically sound and comprehensive: every link — from legislation and nature protection to hydraulic engineering solutions — must work in concert. Only then will the great Russian river be able to continue feeding people," he concluded.
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