Appendix 1.

List of fish species in the Issyk-KulLake (Alamanov and Mikkola 2009; Konurbaev and Timirkhanov 2003; Konurbaev et al. 2005). Scientific names mainly from Fish Base 2009and Fish Catalog 2008.

ENGLISH NAME / SCIENTIFIC NAME / STATUS / ORIGIN / COMMENTS
Rainbow Trout / Onchorhynchus mykiss / Alien, since 1970 (maybe already since 1950s)
POTENTIAL PEST, which moves to fish diet at the size of 35–40 cm (Svärdsonet al. 1968) / Originally from North America, but to Kyrgyzstan via Russia? First to pond and basin culture, but 1980s to cage culture in the Issyk-Kul Lake / Very common all over the lake, but especially near eight cage culture operations. Large fish escaping the culture are regarded by fishers as one of the worst enemies of endemicspecies
Sevan Trout / Salmo ischchan / Alien, since 1930
POTENTIAL PEST / Lake Sevan, Armenia / Predatory fish that eats smaller fish, including endemics
Common Whitefish / Coregonus lavaretus / Alien, since 1960s
HARMLESS / Lake Sevan, Armenia / Well established after 90 millionswere introduced 1966–88, but still requires continuous stocking
Valaam Whitefish or Ludoga / Coregonus widegreni / Alien,
HARMLESS / Russia / Very little known, but not so common
Arctic Cisco or Baikal Omul / Coregonus autumnalis / Alien , since 1970s
HARMLESS / Lake Baikal, Russia / Very little known, but not so common
Schmidt’s Dace / Leuciscus schmidti / ENDEMIC HARMLESS / Vulnerable
Issyk-Kul Dace / Leuciscus bergi / ENDEMIC HARMLESS / Drastic decline due to predation and overfishing
Issyk-Kul Minnov / Phoxinus issykkulensis / ENDEMIC HARMLESS / Rare everywhere due to predation
Tench / Tinca tinca / Alien, since 1950s HARMLESS / Frunze prudkhoz (Kyrgyzstan) / Well established in the littoral zone of the Lake
Issyk-Kul Gudgeon / Gobio gobio latus / ENDEMIC HARMLESS / Heavy Pike-perch predation
Issyk-Kul Marinka / Schizothorax pseudoaksaiensis issykkuli / ENDEMIC HARMLESS / Included in the Red Data book of Kyrgyz Republic 2006 / On the verge of becoming extinct. Only one captured for breeding and one dead seen during the study
Scaly Osman / Diptychus maculatus / INDIGENOUS HARMLESS / Not so rare, but difficult to catch
Naked Osman / Gymnodiptychus dybowskii / ENDEMIC HARMLESS / Included in the Red Data book of Kyrgyz Republic 2006 / On the verge of extinction, but one was found alive in June 2009, and put back to the Lake
Striped Bystranka / Alburnoides taeniatus / Alien, since 1956–58
HARMLESS / Aquarium fish which is now in the Lake / Established, but no details on numbers
Oriental Bream / Abramis brama orientalis / Alien, since 1954–56
POTENTIAL PEST / Russia?
Cultured in Kyrgyzstan since 1872 / Well established, and very common. Egg predator of the endemics
Common carp / Cyprinus carpio / Alien, since ancient times, therefore often claimed to be INDIGENOUS, so called ‘wild form’ of Common Carp (Sazan)
POTENTIAL PEST / Originally from the Danube river, and cultured in Kyrgyzstan since 1852 / Numbers decreased due to disease, shrinking water levels and destructive fishing of the spawners. Predator of endemic fish eggs
Grass Carp / Ctenopharyngodon idella / Alien, since 1956–58
POTENTIAL PEST / Alma Ata to Chui Valley from where to the Lake / Rare, but brought infectious ascites of carps into the Lake
Silver Carp / Hypophtalmichtys molitrix / Alien, since 1960
HARMLESS / Cultured in Kyrgyzstan since 1962, keeps escaping from the local fish ponds into the Lake / Details of the numbers not known, but not common due to a lack of suitable reproduction conditions
Goldfish / Carassius auratus auratus / Alien, since 1963
POTENTIAL PEST / Accidentally introduced with carps / Established but numbers not known.
Potential predator of the eggs of endemics
Stone moroko / Pseudoraspora parva / Alien, since 1956-58
POTENTIAL PEST / Accidentally introduced with exotic carps listed above from Amur River (East Siberia) / Well established and serious competitor with the young native fish and displaces them easily
Tibetan Stone Loach / Triplophysa stoliczkai / INDIGENOUS, CENTRAL ASIAN ENDEMIC
HARMLESS / Rare in the Lake, as it mainly lives in the fast flowing rivers of the Issyk-Kul Lake basin
Tyanshan Loach / Triplophysa stoliczkai elegans, i.e. subspecies of the previous fish / ENDEMIC
HARMLESS / Subspecies living in the Lake .Details of the numbers not known, but obviously not so common or overlooked
Grey Loach / Triplophysa dorsalis / INDIGENOUS, CENTRAL ASIAN ENDEMIC
HARMLESS / In slow-running rivers, also enters into the Lake, but numbers are not known
Spotted Thicklip Loach / Triplophysa strauchii strauchii / INDIGENOUS
HARMLESS / Competitor of commercial fish, but also food for the predators
Plain Thicklip Loach / Triplophysa labiata / Alien
HARMLESS / Balkhash Lake or Russia? / Numbers not known but well established
Issyk-Kul Naked Loach / Triplophysa ulacholicus, including T.u.dorsaloides / ENDEMIC HARMLESS / Little known but good food source for the alien predators
Pike-perch / Sander lucioperca / Alien, since 1954–56
POTENTIAL PEST / Jyjytskoe Lake, Russia
1400 Pike-perch were introduced and now it is everywhere / Most serious alien predator that eats both commercial daces and Stone morokos. Suffers now itself from depleting food sources. Heavy cannibalism noted during the study
Eleotris or Odontobutid / Micropercops cinctus / Alien, since 1970s HARMLESS / Accidentally introduced from Amur River with young herbivorous fish / Established and is a successful rival of young commercial species, larvae predator
Turkestan Catfish / Glyptosternon reticulatum / INDIGENOUS
HARMLESS / Included in the Red Data book of Kyrgyz Republic 2006 / Mountain fish, but there is one report (Baetov 2003) that some caught in the Lake

Appendix 2.

Failed fish introductions in the Issyk-Kul Lake

English
Name / Scientific
Name / Status / Origin / Comments
Siberian
Sturgeon / Acipenser
baerii baerii / Alien, since1982
HARMLESS / Russia
Raised in Cholpon-Ata Biological Station at the Lake / Did not escape to the lake. It was only introduced into Toktogul reservoir, but did not acclimatize very well
Vendace (Ryapushka) / Coregonus albula / Alien, since 1970s
HARMLESS / Russia / Introduction failed, maybe due lack of suitable reproduction conditions
Peled / Coregonus peled / Alien, since 1963–1974
POTENTIAL PEST / Lake Baikal, Russia / Introduction failed in the Issyk-Kul but not in the Son-Kul Lake
Asp / Aspius aspius / Alien, since 1958 HARMLESS / Urals, Russia / Introduction failed
Transcaucasian Barb / Capoeta capoeta capoeta / Alien, since 1956–1958
HARMLESS / Accidental introduction / Introduction failed due to the lack of suitable reproduction conditions

Appendix 3.

Basic condition: for co-management to succeed, government legislation and policy to establish supportive legal rights and authority frameworks are needed; creation of legitimacy and accountability for the local organization and institutional arrangements. Only government can legally establish and defend user rights and security of tenure.

Expected Advantages of Co-management:

Environmental Gains

Sustainable use of fisheries resources: create ownership/stewardship of the resources, which is a powerful incentive, long-term asset.

Conservation of endemic species, fishing habitats and aquatic ecosystems.

Social Gains

More open, and transparent autonomous management process.

Minimize social conflict and maintain social cohesion: compliance with rules and regulations.

Create ownership and allow fishers to take responsibility for number of managerial functions, and allowing the community to develop flexible and creative management strategies that meet fishers’ needs and local conditions.

Adaptive management: lessons learnt and adjustment.

Through the process, communities (individuals) are empowered: knowledge, cognitive and practical skills.

Can make maximum use of indigenous knowledge and expertise.

Economic Gains

More efficient than centralized systems.

Less spent on administration and enforcement.

Sustainable income from fishing activities.

Limitations of Co-management

May not be suitable for every fishing community at the Issyk-Kul Lake.

Requires leadership and appropriate local institution which may not exist in some communities.

The risks involved in changing fisheries management strategies may be too high for some communities and fishers.

The cost for individuals to participate in co-management strategies (time, money) may outweigh the expected benefits.

Sufficient political will may not exist in Kyrgyzstan for the time being.

No guarantee that a community will organize itself into an effective governing institution.

Particular local resource characteristics, such as heavy predatory pressure from alien species versus endemic species, may make it impossible for the community to manage the resource.

General conditions affecting the success of Fisheries Co-management

Supra-community Level

Policy support: political will and administrative arrangements facilitating co-management. Not yet in place.

Legal support: legal rights to organize and implement co-management (delegation of authority, legitimacy and power sharing). Not yet in place.

Managers’ support: willingness and trust. Not yet in place.

Community Level

Cooperation and leadership at community level. Have to be created.

Clearly defined “community” and “stakeholders” and their effective organization and participation. Have to be identified.

Clearly defined boundaries and use rights. Not yet in place.

Partnerships and having sense of ownership of the co-management process. Have to be created.

Group cohesion and trust. Have to be achieved.

Empowerment in process. Not yet in place.

Strong co-management institutions. Do not exist at the moment in the country.

Good information system combining local knowledge and scientific knowledge. Have to be created.

Individual Level

Individual incentive structure is created. Not yet in place.

Credible rules and effective enforcement. Have to be created.

Sense of stewardship all the way down to the individual level. Have to be created.

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