(ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ, իշխան, Ishkhan, Salmo ischan, Saimo ischkchan, Sevani ishkhan, Sevan Trout)
Sevani ischkhan is an endemic variety of trout found only in the Armenian lake Sevan. This salmonid fish is endangered, due to changes in the lake's level and the introduction of non-native fish species into the lake during the Soviet period.
The trout has a distinctive flavor and a color that typically ranges from pink to yellow and is determined by its nutrition and the microclimate. The fish is considered a delicacy, and it is usually poached and flavored with bay leaves, fresh tarragon, and peppercorns.
Other traditional dishes starring this fish call for grilling, frying, boiling, or braising the fish and combining it with wine, a variety of spices, pomegranate juice, and lemon juice, or filling it with fruits or nuts such as hazelnuts or almonds.
In order to protect it, in 1976, Armenia's Council of Ministers decided to forbid commercial fishing of Sevani ishkhan. There are four main strains of Sevan trout, and while summer bakhtak and gegharkuni are mainly reared in hatcheries, winter bakhtak and bojak may be extinct.
