Amudarya Trout. Family Salmonidae.
Scales in the lateral line 98—120, gill rakers 16—22. Length up to 50 cm. Minimum weight 0.7 – 1 kg, average up to 2 kg, over 2 kg is considered a trophy specimen. The maximum weight of caught trout reached 27 kg (during the Soviet era). Currently, catching such a fish is practically impossible. A trophy weighing between 3.5 – 5 kg is considered a significant success. A strong fish weighing 2 kilograms fights until the end, pulling the rod to a full 15 kg.
Distribution - Upper reaches of the Amu Darya, basins of the Kyzyl-Suu, Kafirnigan, and Surkhan rivers.
In the 1950s and 60s, Amudarya trout were introduced from the Kyzyl-Suu River (Alai Valley) to the Kara-Darya River and its tributaries (Alamedin, Ala-Archa, Issyk-Ata), and in the 1980s, they were distributed across the tributaries of the Naryn River system in Central Tien Shan. According to V. K. Lisichin, an employee of the Ala-Archa National Park, the spawning of trout in the Ala-Archa River occurs in October at a water temperature of 1.8—2.0°C.
Amudarya trout in the Ala-Archa feed on benthic organisms — larvae of aquatic insects, representatives of terrestrial entomofauna that accidentally fall into the river, and small fish (mainly bullheads). The population of trout in this river, as well as in other tributaries of the Chu River flowing from the northern slope of the Kyrgyz Range, is low due to poaching. It would be advisable to establish artificial breeding, and release the grown juveniles into the mountain rivers of the Chui and Talas valleys, which would create a good base for the development of sport amateur fishing. A small nursery for breeding Amudarya trout could be built on one of the tributaries of the Ala-Archa River within the Ala-Archa National Park.
Fish
