Anthropogenic factors of diseases and death of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Abstract

The present review examines the long-term trend of declining populations of "wild" Atlantic salmon in most European coun-tries and north-western regions of Russia, due to intensive fishing, poaching, anthropogenic impact on marine waters and freshwa-ter river systems, logging, numerous dams and hydroelectric power plants on spawning rivers, destruction of aquatic biotopes and bottom biocenoses. Deep depression of the majority of Atlantic salmon populations has been observed in the Arctic fishing re-gions of the Russian Federation for more than 30 years, which has led to a decrease in average annual catches by more than 20 times over half a century. Since 2015, the Federal Center for Animal Health has been conducting research to identify the causes of viral and bacterial etiology diseases and the death of Atlantic salmon populations going to spawn in the rivers of the Kola Pen-insula. Currently, in the course of research, the causes of disease and death of Atlantic salmon have not been established. This worries residents and the leadership of the Murmansk region, the scientific community, the Rosselkhoznadzor, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia. Changes in the adaptive properties of fish, physiology, in the digestive system and eti-ology – the slaughter and death of Atlantic salmon in an aquatic environment contaminated with heavy metals, petro-hydrocarbons and other pollutants are considered through anthropogenic factors of influence. In the course of further compre-hensive studies, the establishment of the causes of diseases and death of salmon will allow to develop a system of measures and recommendations for the elimination of diseases and death of Atlantic salmon in the rivers of the Kola Peninsula, to begin the restoration of salmon populations.