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Estimation of the Potential Wild Fish Stock Biomass to be Supported by Available Food Base in a Lake

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Abstract

Freshwaters worldwide are constantly exploited for their water and biological resources. In addition, restoration and management options may exert additional stress on already threatened hydroecosystems. In such cases, the necessity of estimating the potential natural feed base that can support growing fish stocks becomes urgent. In this work, we suggest a quick method for estimating the potential feed base of fish in a freshwater ecosystem based on the analysis of the diet and feeding habits of fish and the biomass of fish and prey organisms. As a model ecosystem we selected a large mountain freshwater lake with relatively simple trophic relationships, short food web and lack of piscivore species—Lake Sevan (Armenia). Since 2016 the lake has hosted cage-based aquaculture for trout re-stocking purpose. Our results showed that the available biomass of main prey organisms in the model lake could support a far larger fish population. The results also provide a boundary for re-stocking volumes in the lake taking into account the increasing wild stock that can be safely supported by the available natural feed (forage) base. A verification of the method on the available historical data spanning 14 years in total, demonstrated a good correspondence with a past event of massive fish kills when fish starvation led to death. The method can serve as a useful screening tool for efficient management of aquatic ecosystems with simple food web structure with several applications in the fishery management and fish stock restoration.

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  1. http://www.ilec.or.jp/en/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/World-Lake-Conference-11-Kenya-2005-Proceedings-Volume-2.pdf (Gabrielyan, B.K, Khosrovyan, A. 2006. Reduction of eutrophication of Lake Sevan (Armenia) via fishery management. Proceedings of 11th World Lakes Conference of International Lake Environment Committee, Kenya. Volume II).

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alla Khosrovyan received Mobilitas Pluss postdoctoral grant MOBJD509 from the Estonian Research Council.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

    B. Gabrielyan, T. Vardanyan & N. Barseghyan

  2. National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, Tallinn, Estonia

    A. Khosrovyan

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  1. B. Gabrielyan
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Correspondence to N. Barseghyan.

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Gabrielyan, B., Vardanyan, T., Barseghyan, N. et al. Estimation of the Potential Wild Fish Stock Biomass to be Supported by Available Food Base in a Lake. Inland Water Biol 15, 331–340 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S199508292203004X

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