On the results of fisheries activities in the Republic of Belarus for 2021

Abstract

The results on fisheries activities and its production base for 2021 are presented. The main areas of fisheries management in the Republic of Belarus are aquaculture (fish farming) and fisheries management (fishing). More than 600 legal entities and individuals are engaged in fishery activities in the country, including 15 specialized pond fish farms of republican and municipal forms of ownership. The total number of industrial farms is 15. At the beginning of 2022, no more than 19.9 thousand hectares of outgrowth and feeding ponds, up to 8.6 thousand hectares of adapted ponds and watered quarries and 3.6 thousand m2 of cages and pools of industrial complexes are suitable for growing fish products of their own production. The main direction remains pond fishing, which accounts for more than 98 % of the total production of commercial fish. Up to 15 species of fish are grown in commercial aquaculture in Belarus.
The share of carp in the total production volume is gradually decreasing. In 2021, the share of carp was reduced from 92–98 % to 71.1 %, the share of herbivores slightly increased among additional fish (up to 13.8 %), and a decrease in the share of crucian carp was noted. The basis of the production of “valuable” species in general was rainbow trout and sturgeon fish (77 % and 22 %, respectively), the African catfish accounts for the least — less than 1 %. Given the current availability of food and the maximum use of polyculture resources, the potential catch of marketable pond fish is estimated at 9.11 thousand tons, the potential production of “valuable” fish species in the industrial fish farming of Belarus is up to 500–600 tons, the potential catch on leased areas may amount to about 800 tons per year, the estimated volume of stable catch of crayfish from the reservoirs of Belarus can reach about 5 tons per year.