Fish Ratings – N/A – July 24 2023: Fish Ratings is unable to rate tens of thousands of juvenile Sterlets that have been released into the Kama River in the Perm Region of Russia by PJSC Uralkali, the potash fertilizer producer, because of sanctions preventing business with Russian entities.
Fish Ratings is therefore unable to give its assessment of the probability of survival of the fry, which were reintroduced into a river that has suffered from high levels of pollution, partly as a result of Uralkali’s potash operations. Potash waste storage contaminates groundwater and turns freshwater in rivers and other inland bodies of water into a chloride brine. This is probably one of the reasons the Sterlet population is in decline and the species is red-listed as endangered in the first place.
Even if Fish Ratings were able to rate the Sterlets, a comprehensive assessment would be challenging because of inconsistencies in Uralkali’s announcement. The title states that the company has released “over 70,000” juvenile Sterlets into the river, whereas the main body text says it has released “almost 50,000”. Accurate data is crucial for a credible Ethical, Saintly and Good (ESG) analysis.
A rating for the juvenile Sterlets released into the Kama was solicited on July 11 but our head of compliance, Murray Cod (‘BBB-’; formerly an associate at Troutman Sanders; not a True Cod), was away on a teambuilding exercise. As soon as he got back, Murray said, “you have got to be joking! Absolutely not!”
Fish Ratings does however rate 10,000 Sterlet that were released into the Danube by WWF-Ukraine in 2021. The rating of these fish, which were tagged by injecting a blue pigment under their skin, is affirmed at ‘CCC+’ (Stable).
Image source: Die Süsswasserfische der Östreichischen Monarchie mit Rücksicht auf die angränzenden Länder Jakob Heckel & Rudolf Kner, 1858
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