Video: Fish Farming Workers Protest Near Government Building

Representatives of fish farms are dissatisfied with the meeting held with Armenia's Minister of Environment Hakob Simidyan. This was announced by one of the fish farmers. It is noteworthy that representatives of fish farms have organized a protest near the Ministry of Environment due to their discontent with the changes in the water code. They have already met with Minister Simidyan.

“We are not satisfied with the meeting; in the main response to the issue that concerns us, the minister initially stated that we misunderstood the essence of the law, meaning there is no discussion of closing water or reducing water volumes. Personally, I asked, what is the purpose of installing a system if water must be conserved and 40 percent is to be returned to the same farm and economic growth registered? But if the extraction from the underground must continue at the same volume, what will the water savings be? There was no response to that,” said a participant of the meeting.

He emphasized that the minister did not provide any guarantees that there would not be any legislative initiative in the future regarding reducing water usage volumes.

The fish farmer noted that there is one positive aspect in all this: starting next week, working groups will resume, and the government will make a decision regarding the regulations for installing closed systems. They were assured that this issue would be discussed with them.

It was mentioned that after next week's meeting with Simidyan, they will determine their further actions. Fish farmers are convinced that the Ministry of Environment intends to conserve water at their expense, as well as not to eliminate losses and not to close the wells that are used illegally and do not have installed meters.