News - Armenia fish farmers holding protest march in Yerevan

The fish farmers of Armenia are protesting Friday in capital Yerevan. They started their protest by blocking a street and marched towards the main government building. They demand to cancel the law on fish farms adopted by the National Assembly (NA). On November 22, the NA adopted a draft of amendments to the Water Code, according to which Armenia’s fish farms which receive water from underground wells should use only water circulation saving systems. In order to reduce the wastage of water resources, the government has decided that fish farmers will work in a closed cycle from next year. And this means that after serving the fish farm, the water taken from the natural source will not flow back to nature, but will remain and will be used again after passing through the filters. According to fish farmers, however, if this law is applied, they will not be able to work and will face closure. The fish farmers had met with Minister of Environment Hakob Simidyan, but they had not reached an agreement on this matter.