On Saturday 17 October, in Chișinău, in the lake at La Izvor Park, Buiucani, several hundred kilograms of fry were released: carp, silver carp and grass carp. Moldova1 and ziar.md give the same start. Mayor Ion Ceban says it came at the request of anglers, who also helped. This is not a season tally. It is day one.

The target for this lake: 1.5 tonnes, in the coming days. Saturday’s load is a part. The municipality has not published, in these texts, how many kilograms went in on the first day, only “several hundred”.

The programme is then meant to move to Valea Morilor, Valea Trandafirilor, Râșcani and Dumitru Râșcanu. Ceban: in a few weeks, in the municipality’s largest basins. ziar.md: for those four lakes there are still no quantities and no calendar. We have not invented tonnes.

The aim, in the city hall’s wording: aquatic fauna and a “natural balance”. Moldova1 also links older notes: swimming in the city’s lakes is not recommended; water and sand can pose risks. Stocking is not a swimming certificate.

We have not written that fishing is free without a permit. The Environment Agency has rules for recreational fishing in natural waters; park lakes are not, in these texts, listed with the Dniester. This is a municipal restocking, not a new regulation.

This is not an ecological victory measured here. It is the start of a campaign, three species, one lake, 1.5 tonnes promised at La Izvor. The other parks remain announced, not delivered.

Image: Tomasz Bladyniec, Valea Morilor lake, Chișinău, 9 July 2021, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Not Saturday’s release at La Izvor.

Sources consulted: La Chișinău a început popularea lacurilor cu pește. Sute de kilograme, eliberate în lacul din Parcul „La Izvor” — Moldova 1; O tonă și jumătate de pește pentru lacul din Parcul „La Izvor”. Alte patru parcuri, incluse în campanie — ziar.md.