Why was shemaya called the king's fish?
Translated from Persian, the name shamaika (shakhmane) means “royal fish”. A small but tasty fatty fish once served as a delicacy in the countries of the Middle East. In Russian, its name has changed a little, but shemaya is still called the royal fish, noting its delicate taste, which is preserved with any method of preparation.
The selyava, unlike other representatives of carp fish (carp, carp, silver and red crucian carp), does not have such an abundance of small bones. Particularly tasty are anadromous and semi-anadromous varieties that come to spawn from the Caspian or Aral Sea. They gain more fat than sedentary individuals. This not only gives the fish a special taste, but also increases its culinary value. It is believed that shamaika is tasteless between spawning periods.
The most popular is smoked and dried shemaya. This is the main fish delicacy of the Black Sea, Aral and Caspian basins. Smoked fish can only be compared with balyk made from nelma or sturgeon. The calorie content of meat soaked in fat is about 88 kcal per 100 g of product.
Habitats
The king fish lives in salty sea water, but to spawn eggs it rises into rivers flowing into the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas. The Aral variety prefers to spawn in the coastal zone, and between mating seasons it moves to deep-sea areas. It practically does not enter rivers.
During the spawning period, shamaika fish prefers fast currents and riffles of shallow rivers. Females begin to spawn only in clean, clear water. Ichthyologists testify that spawning can even stop if the water is clouded by heavy rain or another natural phenomenon. It is caught closer to the main stream of the river, where the majority of individuals live.
But you can only find king fish in river water during the mating season. Immediately after spawning, the selyava goes to the sea and continues to live there until the next spawning season. Therefore, the time period for catching it in rivers is limited to several weeks. The Azov shamaika lives permanently in the Sengileevsky, Egorlyksky, Otkaznensky and Novotroitsky reservoirs: it was released there from the Goryachy Klyuch nursery back in the 70s. last century.
Artificially stocked reservoirs contain large stocks of delicious fish. But the main value of migratory wild species is the fat that the fish must fatten before migrating. Because of this, the Black Sea-Azov variety is considered the most valuable, which has to make a long journey to breeding grounds.
Where is shemaya found?
We looked through the fishermen's reports and marked on the map the places where the shemaya lives
Spawning
Reaching reproductive age in these fish occurs at different times in males and females. The former are ready for reproduction already at 2 years, while the latter only at 3-4. In addition, the spawning time of fish living in different bodies of water differs significantly. It can occur from the first half of autumn to mid-spring, depending on the area. For example, the Kuban shamaika begins to spawn in October, while fish from the Don, Dnieper and Dniester prepare to reproduce only in the spring.
During the spawning period, the appearance of the fish undergoes noticeable changes. A dark tubercle appears on the head of males, while the female has a noticeable thickening of the lower jaw.
This is interesting! Shamaykas spawn on average 2-3 times during their lives, and only a small number are lucky enough to give birth to offspring up to 5 times.
The spawning grounds of shemaya resemble those for many migratory fish - they are usually located at relatively shallow depths in sections of the river with a rocky bottom. Most often, these are places with a strong current, which provides the necessary water temperature and oxygen saturation.
It is noteworthy that the spawning of shamaika itself occurs exclusively in the dark, after which the individuals that have spawned eggs immediately leave this place, returning to their usual habitats.
In addition to natural reproduction, fry raised in captivity on special farms are also regularly released into reservoirs. However, despite the fact that millions of them are sent back to their native elements, predators and poachers do not allow the population to fully revive.
The caviar of the king fish develops quickly, and after only 5 days the fry hatch from it, which will have to spend another 12 months in shallow waters, gaining weight. After this, they go down to the sea, so that after a few years they return to the spawning grounds as sexually mature individuals.
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Lifestyle: nutrition and reproduction
The main food of adults is chironomid mosquito larvae and aquatic crustaceans (amphipods, gammarus, water donkeys, etc.). They are found in abundance by all inhabitants of the middle layers of water. Herds of shemai roam throughout the water area during the entire time when they are not breeding and eat various aquatic inhabitants, not disdaining worms and fish fry. Before the start of the spawning migration, the fish feed especially intensively, trying to gain as much fat as possible.
Shamaykas reproduce only 2-3 times in their life. Sexual maturity occurs at 2−4 years, when individuals reach 15−17 cm in length and weigh about 200 g. But the average lifespan can reach 8−9 years. Particularly large specimens by this time grow up to 40 cm and weigh about 700 g, although they do not spawn every year.
During the quiet period between spawning, it is impossible to distinguish a female from a male. All fish have silvery scales and a dark back characteristic of pelagic fish. During the spawning period in the sun, the scales have a blue tint, but less bright than that of the blue bream that lives in the same rivers. Due to the similarity and characteristics of spawning, fishermen on the Dnieper call shamaika an ice blue. In contrast, the shamaika has a not too large border at the base of the dorsal and caudal fins, painted in a dark color.
It is possible to distinguish an spawning female from a male only during spawning. The head of the male is covered with numerous spines, and in females the lower jaw enlarges and moves forward. The differences persist throughout the spawning period.
Spawning occurs at night on pebbles and stones. Fish choose places practically devoid of aquatic vegetation. Sticky eggs are spawned directly onto the stones. Most often, they are carried away by the current under the pebbles, where the larvae hatch. Depending on the water temperature, the appearance of young animals occurs within 2-5 days. The optimal value is +18°C.
The fry stay in shaded areas and feed on small aquatic animals and worms. They migrate to the sea only in autumn. The juveniles travel under the ice throughout the winter.
External features of the shamaika
Shamaya (its other names: shamaya or shemaya) is a medium-sized fish. The average weight of individuals ranges from 200 to 700 grams. At the same time, the variety living in the Black Sea can grow up to 800 grams, but the inhabitants of the Caspian Sea usually weigh no more than 250 grams. Body length varies from 15 to 30 centimeters.
The body of the shamaika is covered with very small scales. The sides and belly are silver in color, and the back is darker. The base of the dorsal fins is orange, and the fins themselves are almost transparent. The tail is colored gray. The head is not too large, but the lower jaw protrudes strongly forward. This structure is very similar to bleak, so some people cannot distinguish between these types. However, there are two main differences:
- shamaika is 2-3 times larger than bleak,
- The bleak's jaw is closed, since the lower part is turned up and fits into a small hole.
The shamaika has unusual eyes - they are quite large for such a small fish. Their color can vary from silvery white to dark grey. There is a small black dot in the middle of each eye.
When is shamaika fishing allowed?
Shemaya is a protected fish: endangered fish fauna (listed in the Red Book) cannot be caught. But the local population fishes with a rod, despite the bans and fairly high penalties. The shamaika bite begins in mid-late April, when the fish enters the rivers to spawn. The end of fishing is around the end of June.
Fines
The Red Book of Fishes of Russia includes rare and protected species. Shemaya's status is assessed there as vulnerable. Such breeds require especially careful treatment, since the number of their wild representatives decreases every year due to human activity.
The use of poaching fishing methods (nets of any design) is punishable in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: Red Book fish found in the catch can cost the fisherman a prison sentence. For small batches the punishment may be suspended.
For local residents, the fine for catching shemai can be:
- when catching several specimens - from 2,000 rubles, the maximum fine can be 5,000 rubles;
- female eggs found in the catch increase the amount of the fine by approximately 2 times;
- breaking of shemaya by an official in the amount of 1-5 pieces. entails a fine of 15,000 rubles.
When and why was Shemaya listed in the Red Book?
In the rivers of the Black Sea basin, for example, the Dnieper, shemaya spawns in its numerous small tributaries. Before massive hydraulic construction at the beginning of the last century, the spawning areas of fish were extensive enough to ensure their natural reproduction even with an annual catch of up to 800 tons (at the end of the 19th century). Over the course of 100 years, the number of shamaikas decreased so much that the species was listed in the Red Book of the USSR. To maintain the numbers and preserve the population, the selyava began to be artificially bred and resettled in reservoirs formed during the construction of hydroelectric power stations.
But human activity has affected not only the ability to climb to spawning grounds. Water pollution in large rivers and a decrease in their flow due to water supply to settlements affected the composition and salinity of sea water in the area from the mouth. This has led to a reduction in the feeding areas of the shemaya, where individuals ready for spawning are fattened before migrating. The decrease in the amount of food led to rarer spawning of individual flocks.
Despite work to increase the population and acclimatize shamaika in fresh reservoirs, the amount of valuable fish in the rivers remains at an extremely low level. Fishing bans are associated with the desire of ichthyologists to preserve and increase the number of rare species and return them to commercial importance.
Nutrition
Despite its small size, the bleak is quite voracious.
Its main delicacy is flies and other insects, plankton, eggs, larvae, and fry. Sometimes after sunset you can see how a bleak jumps out of the water: first it moves in one direction and the other, then sharply turns over on its side, bends its body, hits the water with its tail and, having described a semicircle in the air, falls back into the water. This technique is aimed at obtaining food: at this time, clouds of mosquitoes and midges swarm near the water, sprayed with water, they fall to the surface, where they become prey for fish. In the same way, bleak acts when it sees a predator, perch, pike or asp, who like to feast on small fish. Read Fishing boat: how to choose, where to buy and how to repay the loan for it
