Caspian Sea Sturgeon Fishing May Be Banned for 20-25 years

(TBILISI) -- An inter-governmental Commission on Water Biological Resources of the Caspian Sea, set to convene in the Azeri capital Baku on November 21-23, will discuss banning sturgeon fishing for a period of 20-25 years, Mehman Akhundov, the director of Azerbaijan’s Fisheries Research Institute, told journalists Monday.

“Sturgeon mature late and are only able to produce eggs once every 18 years…this is a necessary measure for their reproduction,” said Akhundov.

Akhundov said that all the Caspian littoral countries have been introducing technical moratoriums on sturgeon fishing since 2011.

“Although an interstate agreement was not officially signed, each country agreed to apply a moratorium on sturgeon fishing,” Akhundov added.

According to a 2014 protocol adopted at a summit in Astrakhan, Russia by the heads of Caspian littoral states, the commission was instructed to agree on an agreement on raising the status of the Commission on Water Biological Resources of the Caspian Sea from interagency to intergovernmental.

“All the Caspian states joined this agreement in mid-2016. The first session of the commission with its intergovernmental status will be held in Baku,” Akhundov noted. (Trend.az)