A round table on the pollution of Lake Baikal was held in the conference room of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology on February 25, 2010. It was attended by representatives of the RAS, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), the Commission on Public Initiatives in the Sphere of Nature Management and Environmental Protection (part of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s environmental protection agency) and others. The main topic of the round table was: “The Baikal natural area: is it an area of ecologically-ensured socio-economic development or a conservation area without economic development?” Technical Board Chairman of the Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal, Professor and Hero of Russia A. Sagalevich gave a general analysis of the preliminary results of the two seasons of scientific research using the Mir submersibles in Lake Baikal.