About 31% of fry living in the Saratov Reservoir have genetic mutations. while, according to the standards, the number of freak fish should not exceed 5%.
In the Saratov Reservoir, every third fish fry has mutations. This is reported by the Samara media, referring to the conclusions of the dissertation of Alexander Mineev, a researcher at the Institute of Ecology of the Volga Basin of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
According to the scientist, about 31% of fry living in the Saratov reservoir have genetic mutations, while according to the standards, the number of freak fish should not exceed 5%.
The inhabitants of the reservoir were found to have a pigmentation disorder of the body, structure of the eyes, head and skeleton. Ichthyologists suggest that the causes of mutations were the impact on the ecology of hydroelectric power plants, pollution of the water area with industrial and agricultural waste, and discharge of sewage into rivers.
Earlier, in April 2017, it was reported that a large number of mutant fish were also detected in the Volga. Pavel Lyapin, director of the Federal State Institution for the Exploitation of the Saratov Reservoir, spoke about this in his report. This is due to the highly polluted water.
He noted that, according to experts, the self-cleaning capacity of the Volga decreased tenfold.
“Many environmental problems have arisen: coastal processing, water pollution, flooding of the lower reaches. In 2012, the area of land lost after the construction of reservoirs was 6,300 hectares, he said. “In some places on the Volga there are a large number of mutant fish, about 90%.”
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“A reservoir is an ecosystem. As soon as the fish decreases its activity, it immediately becomes food for other, stronger fish. Therefore, there cannot be so many mutants, "Yulia Malinina, head of the hydrobiology sector, candidate of biological sciences at the Saratov branch of the State Research Institute of Lake and River Fisheries named after V. I. L. S. Berg ".
But Vladimir Shashulovsky, director of the Saratov branch of the State Research Institute of Lake and River Fisheries named after L. S. Berg (GOSNIORKH), admitted that there are places in the water area of the Saratov Reservoir where such a picture is observed.
“I can tell you frankly, mutations in fish are observed with enviable regularity. Basically, all mutants die at the larval age and it is extremely rare for fish to grow to a smaller size. Usually this is a curvature of the spine, there were fish with an underdeveloped upper lip or fin, but these mutations do not prevent the fish from living.
And the offspring of this fish is usually normal. The ecological state of the Volga affects the fish population, but there are no such terrible things yet. The main mortality of fish is up to underyearlings, during the first summer of life. During this time, up to 95-97% of the larvae that have been born die.
At the Saratov reservoir, the Chapaevka River flows into the Volga. In the region of this river, based on open sources, once mustard gas was produced and other chemical warfare agents. It is quite possible that increased mutagenicity is observed in the spawning ground of the Chapaevka River.
There, studies were conducted on this matter. This is a narrow local consequence of those terrible years. But, nevertheless, it is wrong to transfer local things to all Saratov and other reservoirs,”the director of the Saratov branch of GOSIORKH believes.