Chastikovaia Ryba

(also chastik; literally, “fine-mesh fishes”), the commercial name for a group of fishes of moderate size, used mainly in southern fishing regions of the USSR on the Caspian, Aral, Azov, and Black seas. The term originated because of the use of fine-mesh nets for catching certain species of fish, in contrast to large-mesh nets used for catching fish of the sturgeon family, for example.

Chastikovye ryby are distinguished by size. The larger species include sheatfish, carp, pike, and pike perch, and the smaller ones include sabre carp, crucian carp, and others, excluding sprats, anchovies, and related species.