Atyrau Region Governor Bolat Akchulakov chaired a discussion on the modernization of the Atyrau sturgeon fish hatchery. Once the work is complete, the facility will be able to raise 7.4 million sturgeon juveniles a year, compared with 5 million now. The juveniles are released into the wild to help preserve sturgeon populations in the Ural-Caspian basin.
The regional akimat and the Ministry of Agriculture are carrying out the modernization on the instruction of the Head of State. Seventeen hectares of land have been allocated for the hatchery’s expansion. The facility operates at two sites, Zhanatalap and Yerkinqala, and was formed by merging the Ural-Atyrau and Atyrau hatcheries.
The first stage of modernization at the Zhanatalap site is complete, and the second is under way. Major repairs to the production workshop have been completed, water recirculation and ventilation equipment installed, and fish-rearing pools and reservoirs prepared. Work is also under way on 32 pools for raising daphnia, small crustaceans used to feed the juveniles.
The main work is scheduled for completion by the end of November 2026, with work at the pumping station due to finish by the end of the year. The Yerkinqala site is set to undergo the third stage of modernization. A tender to select a contractor is under way. The work is valued at 1.5 billion tenge.
Akchulakov said stocking the Caspian Sea and its tributaries with fish is important for preserving the region’s aquatic biological resources. He instructed officials to ensure there are no delays to the modernization of the Yerkinqala site.
The governor also asked officials to consider raising more juveniles so they can be supplied to local fish farms. This would allow production of commercial sturgeon products, including meat and caviar, to increase.
Preserving and replenishing sturgeon stocks is a shared task for the five Caspian littoral states: Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan. The countries cooperate under an interstate agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of the Caspian Sea’s aquatic biological resources. One area of this work is artificial sturgeon breeding and the release of juveniles into the wild.
