The Surrounding Society and the Main Economic Activity of the Region of Residence

The primary budget-generating sector of the economy of the three Tubalar municipalities remains the logging and woodworking industry. The number of enterprises and organizations in the industrial sector operating in the Choysky district is 19.

The small and medium-sized businesses are engaged in forestry, agriculture, fishing and fish farming, commerce, manufacturing, service, transport industry, and construction. As in all the other municipalities of the republic, a significant part of the inhabitants works in administration and management. The basis of the economy of the population of the Maiminsky and Choysky districts is dairy farming, gardening, horticulture, and beekeeping. Locals also gather a large variety of medicinal plants. The wood processing and logging industries contribute to the region's economy as well.

The priority areas of agriculture are livestock breeding and beekeeping, as well as the emerging fish farming industry. Livestock products account for over 80% of the total volume of manufactured products and goods. The bulk of agricultural products come from personal subsidiary plots of the population. Thanks to government support for agricultural producers, the population has become interested in livestock breeding. Dairies and dairy shops produce milk, sour cream, kefir, butter, and cottage cheese in all three districts. These products are sold both to the retail network of the districts and the capital of the republic.

The traditional sectors of the Tubalar economy (fishing, gathering, and cattle breeding) continue to be relevant to this day.

Fishing . Tubalars traditionally do fishing with a karmak fishing rod, a cheyem net, a nyaan cheyen sweep-net, a sugen top, an urgasch snare, and a tokpok mallet to kill the fish. Each resident has a fishing spot assigned specifically to them. Both children and adults engage in fishing. The Turachak region is particularly abundant, for example, lake Teletskoye and the nearby rivers abound in taimen, lenok, perch, burbot, whitefish, sprat, Siberian char, sculpin, dace, grayling, minnows, pike, roach, gudgeon, and Siberian sturgeon. Tubalars also regularly harvest and consume caviar.

Gathering . Local taiga (chern) is rich in various edible berries: red and black currants, blackberries, boneberries, gooseberries, honeysuckle, blueberries, rowan berries, lingonberries, cranberries, and bird cherries.

Other edible plants include wild leek, rhubarb, onion, bracken, and martagon. At the end of April-beginning of May, many locals from Gorno-Altaisk and the Choysky, Turachaksky, and Mayminsky districts go to the foot of the mountains to collect wild leek, which they later sell. For many families, it is a crucial source of seasonal income. They also harvest leek for the winter, sell it to tourists, or take it to Gorno-Altaisk and Biysk for sale. They also preserve such produce as onions, martagon, and addax, which they can later use for seasoning. Gathering and selling cedar nuts, in addition to berries, wild leek, and medicinal plants is one of the primary income sources of the Tubalars and many other residents of the republic. In the Fall, Tubalars usually travel to the taiga areas to harvest cedar nuts. To do so, they hit the cedar trunk with a mallet to make the cones fall. After it, they collect the cones and peel them using special tools and put the nuts into canvas bags. Under the cedar tree, where it is dry even in the rain, the cones covered with snow remain well preserved and are easy to gather. These were the main types of gathering during the period of Soviet collective farms, state farms, and timber industry enterprises. Some of the nuts are kept for family use, but most of them are handed over to the buyer. Thus, the basic traditional economic activities of the Tubalars, depending on the season, are still hunting, fishing, and gathering.

Cattle breeding . The natural conditions do not allow the Tubalars to raise several types of livestock, as in other areas of the region. The damp climate of the chern taiga makes the hooves of smaller livestock rot and, as there are no dry pastures, keeping sheep remains impossible. Therefore, many Tubalar families keep one or two dairy cows to provide themselves with milk and dairy products. In general, the population of the northern area of the republic has to make a lot of hay, and sometimes buys it in the neighboring villages of the steppe Altai, since cattle indoor maintenance requires feeding from October to the end of April. Several Tubalar families who have set up ranches keep a large number of cattle and horses. The role of horses on farms has been increasing in recent years partially due to tourism. In the summer, the Tubalars move their horses to the camps by Lake Teletskoye, where they can rent them out to tourists.