Theft has always existed, but now it has reached a level of cynicism: Hrant Bagratyan on the greening of Lake Sevan

The governor and the person responsible for environmental protection should be removed from their positions and a criminal case should be initiated. This was stated by former Armenian Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan on his Facebook page, addressing the issues related to the greening of Lake Sevan and those responsible for it.

“The greening of Lake Sevan affects all of us. There can be several reasons for this: wastewater, rising water levels, disruption of ecological balance, and so on. Or perhaps all factors combined. Let me talk about the latter. When uncontrollable amounts of fish are caught from the lake, the algae bloom occurs. Because the flora begins to dominate the fauna. We have had similar experience, albeit in a much milder form. Generally, this happens during intensive poaching,” Bagratyan noted.

“Just this year, I have gone through this route to Artsakh three times; in a stretch of 50-100 meters, people are openly offering fish with two hands. Right next to them, dozens or 100 kilograms of fish are laid out in open containers. Such corruption has never existed before. During our time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted raids at least once a month. Theft has always existed, but now it has reached a level of cynicism,” he added.

“Additionally, I would urge the government to publish the amounts of fry added to the lake over the past five years (including the first halves of those years). This concerns the trout farms of Sevan and several private breeding sites. It is possible that there are simply no fish in the lake, or very few,” Bagratyan remarked.

“The problem is also exacerbated by the fact that Chinese nets catch fry as well. Some dishes in restaurants made with fry cause quite an amazement. The lake may recover now. But the lack of regulation in poaching will one day green the lake irreparably. I believe that the governor and the environmental protection officer (there was a minister, but I don’t know who it is now) should be removed from their positions and a criminal case should be initiated,” Bagratyan concluded.