National.

No concession should be given on the Lake Ohrid as long as the new law on fishing is enforced and the industrial fishing is banned, experts said, adding that an agency should be tasked to safeguard the lake.

These are the guidelines spelled out at the meeting of experts, associations of environmentalists and sport fishermen, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment, Makfax correspondent said.

The environmentalists claim the Ohrid trout fauna has dropped sharply lately. The most probable reason is overfishing and possibly the destruction of spawning grounds.

So far, 500.000 fish eggs have been collected to meet the artificial spawning needs and help the trout population recover. It is nearly three times lower than the same period last year. Roughly 200.000 fish eggs were collected in Struga area this year i.e. 100.000 less compared to last year and five times lower than in 2005, when more than 1 million spawns were collected in Shum spawning ground.

The meeting aimed to assess the fish fauna situation in the Lake Ohrid, which will help set out the priority measures to protect the endemic fish species.

MD: The special Ohrid trout is almost extinct and it will be soon, if nothing happens to stop it! Many do not understand the big value of this fish, these are "living dinosaurs" as foreign scientists call the Ohrid trout.

[MakFax]

Posted by Macedonia Daily on Saturday, February 10, 2007 at 12:04 am | Permalink