«We Can Acquire Fish from Other Places, but Not Water» - Pashinyan

Saving water is a matter of national security. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a discussion on the 2023 report of the Ministry of Environment.

Pashinyan addressed the dissatisfaction of fish farming businesses regarding the new regulations being implemented for fish farms. We reported yesterday that representatives of fish farming enterprises in the Ararat region were protesting near the government’s third building early in the morning, demanding that the Ministry of Environment postpone the draft amendments to the Water Code. These changes require Armenian fish farms, which obtain water from underground wells, to only use water circulation-saving systems.

The citizens were trying to express their dissatisfaction directly to Pashinyan but were unable to do so.

“It is clear that we must be consistent; we cannot shift our policies backwards and forwards; we must move forward. This raises another question: how much water are we wasting to produce how much fish, and what is the value of that balance? Let me say one more thing: if we need fish, we can acquire it from other places, but if we need water, we cannot bring it from somewhere else. And this is a matter of national security,” Pashinyan said.

It is noteworthy that the Parliament adopted the draft amendments to the Water Code on November 22.