Georgia: Martvili municipality, in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, has released 120,000 quirts of “Red Nuskhi” stream trout into the rivers near the Baldi Canyon natural monument and in Salkhino. The initiative is part of a project to restore the population of this endemic and endangered species of trout, which is native to Georgia.
The National Wildlife Agency implements the project, which involves releasing nakaduli trout quince and larvae into the wild. This method promotes the reproduction of mate species and maximizes the natural hatching process. This method has been approved in several countries as an effective way to conserve and enhance the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems.
The Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, together with the relevant authorities, annually carries out river fishing activities throughout the country. The fishing program in Martvili Municipality will continue for the next two years, with the aim of producing more than a million lifesites and fish rivers a year.
The process of fishing the rivers of Martvili Municipality was attended by representatives of the National Agency of Protected Areas and Wildlife, the Chairman of the Agency of Protected Areas David Iosebashvili, the Head of Biodiversity and Forestry Department of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture Carlo Amirgulashvili, the State Commissioner of Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti Giorgi Guguchia and the Martvili Municipality Mayor Tornike Janashia.
The Georgian “Red Nuskhi” stream trout breeding project has been ongoing since 2016. It aims to preserve and promote this unique and valuable species of trout, which is considered a symbol of the Georgian natural heritage.
Martvili municipality
Martvili is a small town in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti province of Western Georgia. Its monastery was Samegrelo’s clerical centre in the Middle Ages. Under Soviet rule, from 1936 to 1990, it was named Gegechkori after Sasha Gegechkori, an Old Bolshevik.
