The subsidiary organization of the “National Agrarian Science and Educational Center” LLP - LLP «Fisheries Research and Production Center» is participating in the International joint project “Ensuring the Safety, Preservation and Development of Fish Stocks of the Northern Aral Sea”.

On June 17, 2020, in the Aral region of the Kyzylorda region on the Kokaral dam was presented a new joint project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany (MFA of Germany), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Executive Directorate of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan (IFAS) and the Akimat Kyzylorda region "Ensuring the safety, conservation and development of fish stocks of the Northern Aral Sea region".

In the period from May 16-25, 2018, a scientific and practical expedition to the Northern Aral Sea region was held with the participation of representatives of the countries of Central Asia and the German Society for International Cooperation.

Karolina Milov, Director of the GIZ Regional Programme "Transboundary Water Resources Management in Central Asia," after learning about the catastrophic removal of fish at the Kokral dam due to lack of fish flow, offered her assistance in solving this problem.

The Kokaral dam in the Kyzylorda region did not have a fish protection structure (FPC), as a result of which the fish and its juvenile fish were carried by the current through the culvert to the lower bay. According to the «Fisheries Research and Production Center»  LLP (“FRPC” LLP), the damage to fish stocks from the discharge of water without fish protection structure on the Kokaral dam for adult fish amounted to more than 53 million specimens or 4 thousand tons, for juvenile fish - 30 million specimens, or about 1 thousand tons annually. It was decided to establish in the upper pool of the Kokaral dam a deep hydroacoustic fish protection device (FPD).

EB IFAS in the Republic of Kazakhstan and GIZ signed a grant agreement on December 1, 2019 for the implementation of the project “Ensuring the safety, conservation and development of fish stocks in the Northern Aral Sea region. Development of the potential of the Aral-Syrdarya Basin Council.”

The trilateral Memorandum signed in July 2019 between the EB IFAS in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Akimat of the Kyzylorda region gave an additional impetus to the successful completion of the important project for the Aral region.

The objective of the project is the development and installation of an effective fish protection installation for the culvert structure of the Kokaral dam. The total cost of the project is 150,377,000 tenge, including: GIZ financing - 146,877,000 tenge; contribution of EB IFAS in RK - 3,500,000 tenge.

The project partners are: the Committee on Forestry and Wildlife and the Committee on Water Resources of the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Project designers: the designer team of the Kyzylorda branch of the RSE "Kazvodkhoz" Committee on Water Resources; LLP «Fisheries Research and Production Center». Contractor: “Geotherm” Production Company” LLP.

According to the project, 15 units of pontoon structures for the installation of sonar equipment with anchor fasteners were manufactured. Underwater hydroacoustic systems manufactured in the USA were used. The designed and installed fish protection installation will minimize the rolling of fish and juveniles through the culvert structure of the Kokaral dam, thereby reducing damage to the fish stocks of the Aral Sea region.

On June 12-16, 2020, LLP «Fisheries Research and Production Center» jointly with the EB IFAS in the Republic of Kazakhstan, conducted a scientific experiment to identify the effectiveness of the fish protection device on the Kokaral dam. Testing results were announced on June 17, 2020 at the presentation of the fish protection device with the participation of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kazakhstan, representatives of the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, akimat of Kyzylorda region and district akimats, GIZ, LLP «Fisheries Research and Production Center», etc.