Caspian Sea's sturgeon population declining

According to ISNA, Mohammad Pourkazemi, who heads the International Sturgeon Research Institute told reporters that if the Caspian littoral states do not take action in this respect, they will have to begin farming sturgeon.

"Iran's caviar production quota stood at 44 tons in the year to March 2006, accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production quotas of the five littoral states," he said, adding that Iran also tops the list of caviar exporters. Latest studies indicate 5.9 mln Iranian sturgeon--Persics Acipense--existed in the landlocked sea in summer 2005, while the figure dropped to 4.8 mln in one year, he said.

Pourkazemi announced that caviar export quotas of the five Caspian Sea littoral states for 2007 increased by 12.95 tons to reach 91.728 tons, 43.2 tons of which pertains to Iran, 24.2 tons to Russia, 13.27 tons to Kazakhstan, 6.66 tons to Azerbaijan and 4.40 tons to Turkmenistan.

He added that the littoral states are authorized to catch a total 1,071.02 tons of sturgeon in 2007, 42.02% of which pertains to Iran, 26.75% to Russia, 17.04% to Kazakhstan, 8.4% to Azerbaijan and 5.79% to Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, Mehrdad Rahimi Danesh, director general of Aquatic Resources Restocking at Iran Fisheries Organization for aquaculture affairs, told ISNA that the natural breeding of sturgeon has decreased to zero, arguing that destruction of natural habitats due to the inflow of sewage and pollutants in the water ecosystem and illegal catch were the main reasons for the tragic event. IranMania