Starting January 1, environmental fees for whitefish fishing will  triple, increasing from 65 drams per kg to 200 drams

ArmInfo.  Starting January 1, 2026, the environmental fees for whitefish fishing will triple, from 65 drams per kilogram to 200 drams. Lusine Avetisyan, Head of the Strategic Policy Department at the Ministry of  Environment,  announced this at a press conference on November 19.

She noted that  the rates for environmental fees for shared  biological resources have been adjusted in line with legislative  changes. "With the amendments to the Tax Code, the rates for nature  use fees established for wildlife have been completely revised. They  have generally doubled, except for whitefish,  which has tripled.

 It's worth noting that the rates were last revised in 2006, when  certain coefficients were applied.  However, they still remain quite  low. The revision of the rates is aimed at assessing the available  resources. Whitefish is crucial to the Lake Sevan ecosystem and is an  important resource for food security. Currently, the market price for  whitefish ranges from 1,000-1,500 drams, while the nature use fee is  only 65 drams. The revised rates will come into effect on January 1,"  Lusine Avetisyan noted. She didn't rule out the possibility that  the  market price for whitefish could potentially be affected   by this  change.

It should be noted that nature use fees are a mechanism for managing  economic resources and are formed in the state budget. Sevak Baloyan,  Head of the Bioresources Department at the Ministry of Environment,  reported that the new regulation is not only related to the rate  change. The payment procedure has also changed. Currently, the fee  for nature management is charged based on actual use, but starting  January 1, payments must be made based on the permitted catch volume.