Irkutsk, July 23, 2019 – Today, En+ Group, a leading vertically integrated aluminium and power producer, has successfully released 7,688 juvenile grayling into a permanent habitat in an estuary of the Bolshaya River in Irkutsk. This latest release takes the total number of fish the company has reintroduced to the river to 1.4 mln as part of its aquatic biological resource restocking programme.
The programme has been active across the Irkutsk region since 2014 and to date has seen the successful introduction of over 1.4 million juvenile commercial fish into waters in the Angara Region. Last year alone, the company oversaw the release of more than 243,000 young peleds, or northern whitefish, into the Belaya River.
The grayling release event was well attended by officials from the Baikal Interregional Environmental Prosecutor's Office and the Angara and Baikal Territorial Directorate of the Federal Agency for Fishery of the Russian Federation. Employee volunteers from En+ Group's power companies in the region also took part in the day’s proceedings.
The grayling is recognised as one of the most beautiful freshwater fish amongst all of the salmonid species. On average, an adult grayling reaches 53 cm in length and 1.2 kg in weight. The c.7,700 juvenile graylings, each weighing 0.5 g, were provided by the Baikalskaya Ryba LLC’s subsidiary Belsky Fishery Plant. It is anticipated that most of the juvenile fish will pass from the estuary of the Bolshaya River into the Irkutsk Reservoir.
Sergey Kuznetsov, Director of EuroSibEnergo-Hydrogeneration (managing company of the En+ Group's hydropower assets) commented:“As one of Russia’s major energy companies, our environmental responsibility is a top priority. En+ Group’s entities implement large-scale social, humanitarian, educational programmes, events and projects related to promoting and improving environmental issues in the territories of their operation. The key objective of this event is to help the maintain delicate balance of the region’s ecosystem and we expect to welcome a significant uplift to the grayling population across the Angara basin, just a year from now, once the released juvenile fish finally spawn”.
