The fish death in the Khimki Reservoir is not associated with the release of harmful substances. About this to the City News Agency “ Moscow " reported in the department of state control, supervision, water protection biological resources and their habitats in Moscow, Moscow-Oka Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fisheries.

“As a result of the analysis of the situation, it was established that a natural non-massive death of fish occurred in the winter season. The reason was the depletion of oxygen in the reservoir (covering the surface with ice, stagnant water). It is worth noting that such a natural effect is not associated with any discharges of harmful substances into the reservoir, similar cases periodically occur in the natural habitat, and not only in the Khimki Reservoir", - the department said.

It is noted that as a result, about a hundred fish died, including valuable varieties.

"At the time of the inspection, about 100 specimens of dead fish were found. Of the valuable varieties, several adult pike perch were killed. Measures to restore the fish population in in this case are not required, there is no threat to its population in the reservoir. Recovery in such cases occurs in short time naturally", the department added.

Earlier it was reported that local residents noticed a massive death of fish in the Khimki Reservoir.

Local residents are confident that the cause was toxic sewage.

A massive fish death occurred in the Khimki reservoir. Local residents believe that this was the result of man-made human activity; Rosrybolovstvo inspectors assure that the causes of the disaster are the most natural.

According to fishermen and local residents, the cognac factory located next to the reservoir is to blame for the mass death of fish. According to another version, a residential complex built on the shore of a reservoir dumps untreated sewage into it, m24.ru reports.

Meanwhile, the Moscow-Oka territorial department of Rosrybolovstvo claims that the fish death is not associated with the release of harmful substances and occurred due to the depletion of oxygen in the reservoir.

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Rosrybolovstvo noted that only about a hundred fish died in the reservoir.

About 100 specimens of dead fish were found off the shores of the Khimki Reservoir, the Moscow 24 TV channel reports. Among the possible culprits of the disaster, local fishermen name a cognac factory and a residential complex on the shore, which allegedly discharges untreated sewage into the water.
With the advent of the thaw, the Khimki Reservoir began to resemble a fish cemetery, where you can see valuable varieties: large pike perch, grass carp and catfish.
Fisherman Vyacheslav Sterlikov said that he had never seen anything like this in all the 30 years that he has been fishing. According to him, the fish stopped biting in January, and this greatly surprised and worried the fishermen.
“Imagine, the reservoir is 25 meters deep - how could she die?!”- laments another fisherman Yuri Ionov, who used to fish here throughout the winter, until the ice melted.
Fishermen see the cause of the pestilence as chemical poisoning. Rosrybolovstvo inspectors do not agree with them, who believe that the fish could have died not from poisoning, but from a lack of oxygen.
“The winter was quite severe in our region, and almost 100 percent of the reservoirs were covered with ice, plus this fish lives at depth. Of course, we will take samples and conduct an investigation, but I’m almost sure that this is a kill, a natural kill.”, - explained the senior state inspector of the Federal Fisheries Agency Roman Balaev. He also admitted that the reservoirs had not been cleaned for a long time, so a lot of mud had accumulated in them. In winter, the mud began to rot, releasing gas and squeezing out oxygen, which led to the death of deep-sea fish.
According to local residents, the condition of the Khimki reservoir has recently deteriorated greatly. In addition, it is fish that is considered an indicator of ecology, and its mass death indicates the serious scale of the disaster.
Environmentalists took water samples for analysis to determine whether there were traces of chemical contamination. The results will be ready in a few days. In the meantime, while waiting for the experts' verdict, fishing enthusiasts are unlikely to have the opportunity to uncover their fishing rods. It will take a lot of time to catch the dead fish and clean this area,

In part of the Khimki reservoir, all the fish died. Thousands of carcasses were washed ashore. The locals are very excited, and understandably so. So far, no authority has undertaken to eliminate the consequences of the emergency, and its causes can only be guessed at. The environmental prosecutor's office is still waiting for the results of the examination.

They surfaced as soon as the ice began to break up. From each ice hole, hundreds of carcasses washed ashore every day, reports. When the ice completely melted and the sun came out, a foul smell appeared. Particularly active citizens tried to contact different authorities and wrote letters. But there was only one answer: the fish suffocated, it simply did not have enough oxygen under a layer of thick ice.

“When a polynya begins to appear, the water melts, then all these fish float up. It looks very much like a death,” says a professor at the Department of Bioecology and Ichthyology at Moscow State University of Technology and Management. K.G. Razumovsky Yuri Simakov.

“Nothing like that! We’ve been living here since ’70. And there were a variety of weather, different situations. This has never happened before! Fishermen have been complaining since January that there is no fish. What does ice have to do with it?” local resident Frida Slavinskaya is indignant.

The fishermen really began to suspect that something terrible had happened right after the New Year. The bite disappeared, no bait helped.

“The reservoir here is 9 kilometers long, 25 meters deep. There simply cannot be a natural death here, because it is connected to the Moscow River, which is open all year round"- fisherman Albert Kolesnichenko is indignant.

"If a fish is dead, then it appearance is changing. Her gill covers are protruding and her mouth is open. And the mucous membrane around the mouth is dark blue,” insists Professor Simakov.

At first glance, everything external signs the death is obvious. The gills are protruding, the mouth is open. True, it is impossible to make out the color of the mucous membrane. And it’s too late to conduct an examination, experts say. Too much time has passed. But, according to the fishermen, they conducted their investigative experiment back in the winter. The result turned out to be so monstrous that it would be better not to meddle in this quiet pool.

"In the next bay, a pipe burst. None of our friends came up, but people said that sewage was flowing. Nobody paid any attention, but it flowed for quite a week. After that, the bite stopped. And some time later, the guys with a video camera, lowering it onto bottom, we found that there were layers of dead fish lying there,” says fisherman Oleg Shebarin.

There are currently no mass fish burials observed either in the nearby bay or upstream. Among the alleged culprits of the tragedy, local residents name a cognac factory, an elite residential complex on the opposite bank, and a yacht club, saying how much fuel is being drained. But the manager is sure: the club is not to blame for anything, there were no emissions or leaks, the season opens only in May. But whether it will open because of the current situation is a big question.

“It will be impossible to go into the water. Until outbreaks of epidemics. These are corpses, it all rots. Again, the fish are not small, the bones are large, children swim on the beach all the time,” worries the manager of the yacht club, Pyotr Izosimov.

The fish is really large, bottom-dwelling. The one who was sleeping never woke up. So representatives of the Fisheries Protection Agency, who insisted on the kill, now have to repel attacks from angry fishermen.

The results of water intake are not yet ready. It would be a good idea to also take soil samples, environmentalists say. It turns out that the Khimki reservoir was last cleaned 20 years ago.

“The biggest cleanup was in 1998. All the sewers that exist in that area are by no means designed for those loads that simply cannot cope and fail. That is, treatment plants and collectors cannot cope either,” says the younger Researcher at the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences Artem Akshintsev.

Local residents are afraid of the moment when thousands of people who want to relax will come here. In the meantime, dogs and birds are afraid to approach the coastline. The birds, by the way, have completely disappeared. For several months now - no crows, no seagulls. They fly around the area like the Bermuda Triangle.

Olga Streltsova, Marina Glebova, Dmitry Panov. "TV Center".

Massive death of fish in the Khimki Reservoir. Tons of dead perches and crucian carp have surfaced off its shores. Experts attribute the death of fish to a lack of oxygen, but this could be an environmental disaster.

This picture is a fisherman's nightmare. With the onset of the thaw, the Khimki Reservoir turned into a giant fish cemetery. Large pike perch, grass carp and catfish lie lifelessly on the surface of the water, belly up.

“This is the first time in 30 years that this has happened! The fish stopped biting here in the winter, around January. All the fishermen were surprised, what’s the matter? How many fish are still at the bottom? We determine by crows and seagulls, if they fly in and peck at the ice, that means there’s fish there,” says Vyacheslav Sterlikov, a fisherman.

Some of the dead fish were in the ice, some were washed ashore. Here, for example, are a couple of catfish. And so on all along the coastline. The fishermen state that the case is really serious.

“We always caught fish throughout the winter until it melted. Pike perch, catfish, which now lies in front of you. The depth of the reservoir is 25 meters. How could it die? This has never happened in my life, not even one catfish could be found on the shore,” - Yuri Ionov, a fisherman, complains.

What caused the massive fish death? The versions are very different. Fishermen consider chemical poisoning to be the most likely cause. 6 kilometers from this place there is a cognac wine factory that allegedly dumped waste into the water. Fishermen also do not rule out that sewage from the residential complex, which is located on the shore, is drained directly into the reservoir.

“They drained the sewer, it went under the ice. As soon as the ice melts, everything is revealed. In winter, they drain a lot here, the ice is thick, no one sees anything,” says Vyacheslav Sterlikov, a fisherman.

However, Rosrybolovstvo inspectors counter that the fish could have died not from poisoning at all, but from a lack of oxygen, and washed up dead on the shore.

“Our winter was quite severe, almost 100 percent of the reservoirs were covered with ice. Plus, this fish lives at depth. Of course, we will take samples and conduct an investigation, but I am almost sure that this is a kill, a natural kill. The reservoirs, frankly speaking, They haven’t been cleaned for a long time, so there’s a lot of mud, all sorts of sticks, in winter it all starts to rot, release gas and simply squeeze out oxygen,” explains Roman Balaev, senior state inspector of the Federal Fisheries Agency.

Fish are considered indicators of the state of the environment. Her death highlights the scale of the environmental disaster, local residents believe. The condition of the reservoir, according to them, has recently deteriorated sharply.

“The smell is very strong. Now there is wind, but yesterday there was no wind, it was very warm, and the smell was terrible. The environmental damage, of course, is insane,” says Pyotr Izosimov.

Ecologists arrived at the site and took water samples for analysis to determine whether there was contamination and to find the culprits of the pestilence. The results will be ready in a few days. Fishing enthusiasts are unlikely to be able to uncover their fishing rods in the near future. There are a lot of dead fish. It will take a lot of time to catch it and clean this area, but in the meantime the carcasses on the shore continue to rot.