Agreement on conservation and sustainable use of the Caspian Sea aquatic bioresources entered into force

Almaty. May 27. Silkroadnews – Agreement on conservation and sustainable use of the Caspian Sea aquatic bioresources entered into force, the press service of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency reports.

According to the report, the document signed in Astrakhan in September 2014 by representatives of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, got ratified by all the agreement member-states.
The document said to define the principles and forms of cooperation in this area, including the joint stocks management, commitments to fight against the illegal fishing and measures on the aquatic bioresources replacement.  

At the same time, there is a special commission assigned to coordinate the activities for the conservation, replacement, management of shared water bioresources, determine total allowable catches and distribute national quotas on a yearly basis. The commission’s powers also include fishery management and conservation of shared aquatic bioresources on the basis of restrictions, which may include the prohibition of fishing in certain areas and on certain types of resources at the time periods specified.

The agreement provides for the commission to make decisions binding for the states taking part in the agreement.
The Caspian Sea is the world richest basin in number and diversity of sturgeon species. However, since 1991, we observe a drastic reduction in the number of sturgeon stocks and now the species’ future depends on the effectiveness of measures to ensure their natural and artificial replacement, as well as to fight the illegal fishing and its products selling in the Caspian basin.