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TASARAL, Kazakhstan — In the tiny fishing village of Tasaral on the western shore of Kazakhstan’s Lake Balkhash, the spawning season is a time for getting other things done.
Fishing is banned during this 45-day period that extends until mid-June, so the community of some 500 people that depends on the lake for its existence does odd jobs, such as mending fishing boats, building barns, and refurbishing homes.
It is also a time to ponder the future of the huge 17,000 square-kilometer body of water — the third-largest in Asia — that gives…
