Project Fish: The Fish Problem
on Lake Khantai

By Vladimir M. Protasov

I live where the Kutaramakan River empties into Lake Khantai. I first saw this spot in 1984, in my search for a place in the Soviet Union where I could live a free life. This spot in Arctic Siberia is where I came to rest. Today, I am the legal owner of the hectare of land where my cabin stands. This means I have the right to invite anyone I choose into my home, without asking permission of the authorities. My cabin can sleep four. If I wanted to, I could invite the President of the United States himself to visit me here.

I live alone. My home is 70 kilometers from the nearest village, Khantaiskoe Ozero (pop. 550). The village itself is accessible only by helicopter and has no telephone line. The village people mostly belong to the indigenous peoples, Evenki, Nenets and Dolgan, who make their living by reindeer-herding, hunting and fishing. I too make my living mainly by hunting and fishing. The game in our area includes Arctic fox, wolverine, bear and many other species, in addition to wild reindeer. But the fish here are in big trouble.

The most important and valuable fish of Lake Khantai are several species of salmon, especially "golets." Trade in these fish is an important part of the local economy here, as well as a key element of the local people's diet. Dry and frozen fish are the traditional source of food. During the polar winter, when vitamin deficiencies become dangerous, especially for children, these fish are essential. Because they do not carry the parasites that make it necessary to cook other species of fish, these fish can be eaten raw, thus preserving their much-needed vitamins.

When I came to Khantaika, there were seven spawning grounds of these salmon species on Lake Khantai. Six of them are now gone- destroyed mainly by poachers. While there are many reasons for the local people's poverty, widespread unemployment and failing health, the disappearance of the "golets" and its congeners is a key element of the problem. I am trying to protect the seventh and last spawning ground of these fish on the Kutaramakan River, but I need some help.

The following essay was hard for me to write because of the absurdity of my situation. Taimyr is one of the richest regions in Russia: gas, oil, precious metals, hydroelectric energy and much more. Throughout the last ten years I have turned again and again for help to the bureaucrats and "oligarchs" of this region. The bureaucrats answer diplomatically: "Your project is good, but we have no money!" Yet they have always had plenty of money to support their useless bureaus full of helpless bureaucrats. The oligarchs answer more directly: "Your project isn't profitable for us." It's of no concern to them that it's a question of their own children's health-and not only physical health but spiritual as well. (What goes on in the soul of a child watching the flight of an enormous bird who has just plucked a gaping fish from the water and is carrying it alive, all glossy and sparkling, home to its nestlings? Who knows! As for me, I've seen the puzzlement and rapture in that child's eyes. How much is this worth? What's the profit in this?)

We've just had elections for governor of Taimyr and mayor of Dudinka. The "oligarchs" won. The money won. Enormous sums were sunk in the election campaigns. I'm still standing here with my hand out, but now with my back to Russia and my face to America. It feels shameful, and this shame has made it hard for me to transform the following thoughts into a text.

II. The Kutaramakan Eco-System and the Fish Problem

Ecosystems at high latitudes, such as in the Russian Arctic, are inherently unstable and subject to oscillations of great amplitude in both biomass and populations, even to the edge of self-destruction. In deep arctic lakes, such as Lake Khantai, there is relatively little biodiversity, meaning relatively few species of fish. However, these fish make up a great portion of the biomass of the system. Therefore, loss of even one of these species, which are important links in the trophic chain, can cause great disruption. Even though population oscillations and predation are natural parts of the system, illegal poaching at the spawning grounds disrupts the dynamic equilibrium of these fishes.

Salmon and other fishes of the genus Salvelinus are circumpolar and found throughout the Arctic Circle, including Scandinavia, Canada and Alaska. Highly adaptable, they appear in many genetically diverse forms across a variety of ecosystems. But these commercially and ecologically valuable fishes of Taimyr may soon reach the limits of their capacity to adapt and survive in the face of many challenges, including poaching and climate change.

In the past three years, poachers have destroyed six of the seven most important spawning grounds in the Lake Khantai region. The last surviving one, located on the Kutaramakan River, is within my jurisdiction as a forest ranger and as a private landowner. This spawning area is particularly valuable because the river, even in the depths of the Arctic winter, does not freeze entirely, providing a year-round environment for fish.

As things stand now, I can prevent poaching only from the mouth of the river. Although my position as a representative of the Taimyr Forestry Collective gives me authority, my lack of financial and technical resources makes enforcement next to impossible. My transportation and communications are almost totally obsolete, and I spend more time fixing equipment than actually doing the job. Poachers with helicopters can freely fish the source of the river, and it is these air approaches that cause the greatest damage.

I have observed that illegal poaching not only destroys the ecosystem; it also seems to cause changes in the spawning cycles of several species of fish, in addition to introducing warm-climate species such as frogs and lizards. These phenomena may be caused by local climate changes connected with pollution or global warming. One of the goals of my project is to establish a program of systematic observations in order to determine the magnitude and causes of these changes.

III. Project Proposal

The goal of my project is to create an effective non-governmental system of protection and monitoring of the most important spawning areas of young salmon, whitefish and other species of the Kutaramakan River and its associated waterways. This means controlling poachers and reclaiming and supervising the land-approaches to spawning areas. Year-round observation and research would make it possible to develop prognostic models of the spawning of endangered fish species, which could then be used to determine the best courses of action.

Further, I would like to appraise the feasibility of re-introducing ecologically and commercially valuable fish, such as talmen and chir, which once inhabited the Khantai hydrosystem. If this can be done, it will also ensure greater protection for the habitats and breeding grounds of species that are rare in our region, such as otters, bald eagles and white gyrfalcons. These species will not be the only beneficiaries of the project; many circles of people will benefit by the re-introduction of valuable fish and by limits on poaching.

Restoration of these valuable species will heighten the worth of fish catches and increase consumer demand for fish beyond the village of Khantaiskoe Ozero. This could potentially lower the level of unemployment and ameliorate the dire economic and social situation in the village. More than half the residents of the village belong to the indigenous peoples of this region, all of whom depend upon the fish as a commercial resource and as a crucial source of food and much needed nutrients. The protection of these spawning areas will ultimately allow for the preservation of these people.

I myself am also one of the beneficiaries of this project. Two motives dominate my action. One is pragmatic: the preservation of a commercially valuable resource. My salary as a forest ranger is about thirty US dollars a month, and a major means of personal survival is commercial hunting and fishing. The second motive is aesthetic: the spawning of salmon in clear, cold water is simply beautiful.

The intense natural beauty of the Kutaramakan River area could appeal to yet another circle of beneficiaries-tourists. There are possibilities for what I call "extremist tourism" - log-rolling down mountain streams, sport-fishing with spoon bait, hunting wild reindeer and bear. Paying tourists could provide funds for the partial or even full financial independence of the project.

I estimate the first phase of the project will span approximately five years. By then, the question of financial independence of the project should be solved. I myself can do most of what is needed for securing the area against poachers and land restoration work. The rest is more complicated, and presents the opportunity for collaboration between ecologists and biologists from Russia and abroad, together with members of the local indigenous communities. The most natural criterion for judging the success of the project would be the establishment of population increases among locally endangered fish species.

This project offers the possibility of protecting and appreciating a rare ecosystem in an area highly impacted by pollution (especially from the Norilsk metallurgical industries) and by the problems of a state going through a painful transition. But time is of the essence here. If these challenges are not met very soon, the entire conception of this project will become simply a biographical footnote of my own life.

I will be grateful to all, who can help me with this endeavor.

Vladimir Protasov,
Taimyr Forestry Department, Forest Cordon 3
Lake Khantai
Taimyr, Russia

trans. Elana Wilson
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont

You can find out more information about Protasov and his project at www.virtualfoundation.or/proposals/rusexcha01.cgi. Or, contact Middlebury College Professsor Eve Adler by e-mail at Adler@middlebury.edu.