Anthropogenic factors – the introduction of alien species, pollution of water bodies, irrigation activities, poaching – have led to a sharp decline in the populations of many indigenous fish species. Some of them have virtually ceased to appear in catches over the past 10 years and have been recommended for inclusion in the Red Book of Kyrgyzstan. Some species, whose numbers have significantly decreased, require specific measures for their protection and population recovery. These include the naked osman, Turkestan and Chatkal stone loaches, and the Aral chub.
The inclusion of endangered, rare, and endemic fish species in the Red Book of Kyrgyzstan will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the preservation of their species diversity and population numbers. Compared to the previous list, the number of fish species included in the Red Book of the republic has significantly increased. Their quantitative representation is compared in Table 1, while the distribution of the number of species from the current publication by administrative regions of the republic and by major types of ecosystems is shown in Tables 2 and 3.
