Caspian littoral countries extend ban on commercial sturgeon fishing

The Russian Federal Agency for Fishery (Rosrybolovstvo) has said that the Caspian littoral countries, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, have extended the ban on commercial sturgeon fishing until 2025.

Rosrybolovstvo announced this decision following the 8th session of the commission on the conservation and rational use of the Caspian Sea's aquatic biological resources and the management of their shared stocks, held in Astrakhan, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

"The sides agreed to extend the ban on the commercial fishing of sturgeon species until 2025 and not to establish export quotas for caviar and sturgeon species for that year. Sturgeon fishing in the coming year, as before, will be allowed only for scientific research and artificial reproduction purposes," the statement read.

Rosrybolovstvo also said that in 2023, Russian enterprises released 34.5 million sturgeon fry into the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan released 1.9 million, while Azerbaijan released 618,700. 

Russia has banned the commercial fishing of beluga sturgeon in the Volga-Caspian basin since 2000, and sturgeon and sevruga fishing since 2005. 

A moratorium on commercial sturgeon fishing is also in place in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan.

The Caspian Sea is the richest water body in the world in terms of sturgeon population and species diversity. The highest sturgeon catches in the Caspian basin were recorded in the early 20th century at 39,400 tons and in the late 1970s at 27,400 tons. The sharp decline in sturgeon species began in 1991.

By Naila Huseynova