Putin thanks Steven Seagal for reviving Lake Baikal cisco

Russian President Vladimir Putin asked to express gratitude to Hollywood actor Steven Seagal for participating in the action to restore the population of the Baikal cisco aka omul - whitefish species of the salmon family endemic to Lake Baikal). Putin voiced his request at a meeting with the head of the Federal Agency for Fishery, Ivan Shestakov, on October 19.

"Additional funds have been allocated both for reproduction and fish conservation measures. We already see positive dynamics - the decline in the population of the Baikal omul has suspended, and we already see a slight increase," Shestakov said. In 2023-2025, we consider it possible to reopen industrial fishing."

"Did Steven Seagal take part in this work?" Putin wondered. Having received an affirmative answer, Putin smiled and asked to convey words of gratitude to the actor.

Actor Steven Seagal visited Baikal in the summer of 2020. He expressed a desire to develop his business project within the framework of the "Far Eastern hectare" program, to teach children martial arts and defend Baikal.

The 68-year-old actor, filmmaker and martial artist Steven Seagal is a citizen of three countries - the United States, Serbia and Russia. He received his Russian passport in 2006 from the hands of Vladimir Putin. On May 7, 2018, the actor and his wife arrived in Moscow for the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the invitation of his administration. In August 2018, Seagal was appointed Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for Russian-American humanitarian relations.

In October of the same year, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that his department was planning to ask Seagal to take part in the project to preserve the Russian heritage in the United States. The Russian America Foundation was supposed to be established for the purpose. Ryabkov noted that such cooperation was especially important during the current crisis in the US-Russian relations.