Evaluation of freshwater ichthyofauna of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain at current stage (2018-2019)

The article assesses the state of freshwater ichthyofauna of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain (VAP) in the modern period. A retrospective analysis of the dynamics of the composition of the ichthyofauna of the floodplain under the influence of different fishing regimes was carried out. The increasing role of amateur fishing in this process has been defined. There has been defined the orientation of changes including increasing pressure on the most valuable fish species (perch, brim, pike perch, sazan and perch), unstable hydrological regime of the Lower Volga during the repro-duction period, growth of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, etc. The values of the qualitative and quantitative composition of net catches of fish are given. The extrapolation method assuming a uniform distribution of the ichthyofauna calculated the commercial stock of freshwater ichthyofauna of the floodplain. It has been noted that in the stock structure of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain there dominate the typical river species, more than 50% of which are presented by bream, crucian carp, sabrefish and blue bream. In the context of the limited extraction (catch) of aquatic biological resources by industrial fisheries, the commercial stock of semi-migratory and river fish in the Volga-Caspian and North Caspian fishery subareas due to the unaccounted stocks of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain can be increased by 10%, and for such fish as pike perch – by 13%, crucian carp – by 15%, silver breeds, bersh, silver carp and grass carp – by 50%, zope and sabrefish – by 100%, roach – by 200%. The commercial stock is currently being developed by amateur fishing, the volumes of which do not undermine the reproductive potential of the freshwater ichthyofauna of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain.