By the river and without fish: pink salmon did not come to spawn in the Murmansk region. Fishermen are in a panic

Every season, the small village of Umba on the Kola Peninsula is filled with fishermen from all over the country. People go to the pink salmon spawning, which happens every two years. But this time there is anxiety and disappointment hovering over the village. People sit by the water for hours waiting for the pink salmon to move.

«The year before last, at the same time, there were so many fish that you just put a net in and pull it out, you didn't even need a fishing rod. And now there's just nothing. Gone», — says one of the fishermen.

Spawning is an important source of income for local residents. They not only fish themselves, but also rent accommodation to tourists, provide services. But there will be no fish, there will be no visitors.

«We drove 1500 kilometers here, buy a fishing license», — a tourist from Tver, — for 12 hours it is 2000 rubles, to rent a miserable house — 5000 per day. To go to the shower to a local grandmother — 1000 rubles. And all for the sake of sitting on the shore and looking at an empty river. Of course, a caught fish will not discourage a trip, but there is no joy from a vacation without fish».

The first version, which was born among fishermen, was that all the fish were taken away by fishermen who placed seines at the mouth of the river. But everything turned out to be more complicated.

The local branch of the All-Russia People's Front responded to the complaints.

«Spawning is bread for the residents of the village, so many tourists come there», — says Maxim Sakhnevich, head of the Murmansk executive committee of the All-Russia People's Front, «we were informed that there are supposedly huge seines, a video and photo appeared, allegedly the neck was closed and the fish does not enter the river. They immediately informed the regional government, the FSB, and the prosecutor's office. As far as I know, the inspection is carried out, including by border guards for those companies that work there».

But the version that the fishermen took all the fish was not confirmed, they themselves are sitting with empty nets.

«We talked to the companies that I work there, they do not close the neck, and everything is done within quotas», — says Maxim Sakhnevich, «this year they have been granted permission to catch 1,200 tons, but so far only forty tons have been caught. It is clear that people are waiting for fish, and somewhere they are annoyed, so the work of the municipality is unclear. There would never have been such a situation if the municipality and the people who are now on the territory of this district were working. Fishing companies are ready to meet people, show their nets that they don't block anything, and the municipality says: it's not found credentials».

The representative of the All-Russia People's Front believes that if the fish does not come, then in the end it will affect not only the locals and fishermen, but also the market as a whole, since for the most part pink salmon and caviar are on sale, and not eaten by fishermen.

Where is the fish after all?

No one has an answer to this question yet, and probably not in the near future. According to a source of the local publication «MK-Murmansk» in Murmanrybvod, no one really studies the migratory behavior of pink salmon.

«The White Sea is completely legally blocked by nets, permission has been obtained for this. I cannot say whether other fishermen suffer from this or not, but it does not completely block the course of pink salmon. The real reason why it is not in the quantity in which it is expected, no one knows. The behavior of pink salmon has not been studied for a long time», — the source said.