Retrospective analysis of the fish fauna of the Tom River before the construction of the Krapivinsky Reservoir

The resumption of design and survey work for the construction of the Krapivinsky Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Tom River has necessitated the assessment of the current state of its fish resources and called for making the prediction of their transformation in the event of the hydroelectric complex being put into operation. In the early 20th century, the Tom River was classified as a salmonid habitat. At that time, such valuable commercial species as the Siberian taimen Hucho taimen, blunt-snouted lenok Brachymystax tumensis, tugun Coregonus tugun, humpback whitefish Coregonus pidschian, Nickolsky’s grayling Thymallus nikolskyi, nelma Stenodus leucichthys nelma, muksun Coregonus muksun, and peled Coregonus peled were permanent residents. Sturgeons, such as the Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii and sterlet Acipenser ruthenus, were also abundant. Currently, out of these species, grayling, occasionally taimen and lenok are caught in the Tom River; the common roach Rutilus rutilus, European perch Perca fluviatilis, Siberian dace Leuciscus baicalensis and Eurasian ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus comprise 95 % of all fish caught. If construction of the Krapivinsky Reservoir on the Tom River is completed and it is put into operation, a deep-water, slow-flowing “lake-type” water body will be created. The river bed will be blocked, so semi-anadromous fish species, many of which are listed in the Red Data Book — such as Siberian sturgeon, sterlet and nelma,—will disappear. A decrease in the abundance of grayling, taimen and lenok, already low in number, should also be expected. These fish species winter in the pits, some of them migrate to the Ob River, so, after passing the spillway, they will not be able to return upstream to the spawning grounds. The abundance of lake and lake-river species is expected to increase, among them the common roach, dace Leuciscus leuciscus, European perch, Prussian carp Carassius gibelio (introduced locally, subsequently self-dispersed), as well as common bleak Alburnus alburnus and sunbleak Leucaspius delineates (accidental invaders). In the future, it is possible to make an attempt to introduce peled to the upper basin of the Krapivinsky Reservoir. There is a prospective threat of the Chinese sleeper Perccottus glenii spreading in the upcoming reservoir, which can severely undermine its fish stocks.