Caspian States to Revise Sturgeon Quotas
Caspian States to Revise Sturgeon Quotas
The countries around the Caspian Sea must adopt a common policy to clamp down on poaching and reduce environmental damage if they are protect sturgeon stocks, but effective cooperation is still a long way off, say NBCentralAsia observers.
Representatives from the Caspian states agreed to work out a new quota distribution system for sturgeon fishing during a joint Water and Biological Resources Commission meeting on August 11.
Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran all border the Caspian, and catch various species of sturgeon for their flesh and caviar. Up to 90 per cent of the world’s black caviar comes from the Caspian.
The current system, which excludes Iran, allots fishing quotas according to the contribution each state makes to replenishing stocks. Russia’s quota is 70 per cent, Kazakstan 18 per cent and Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan around six per cent each. Iran’s catch is not included in these percentages.
The new system would involve Iran, too, and would incorporate added criteria such as the efforts each country puts into tackling poachers and limiting environmental damage to marine life and coastal areas.
Even though the quota system is designed to preserve stocks, poachers still account for at least 70 per cent of the total catch. The CITES committee (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) says that large numbers of sturgeon are dying because of oil pollution from industry.
NBCentralAsia experts say that the Caspian countries urgently need to adopt a strict common policy on poaching and environmental damage. But for this to work properly, they will need to resolve their long-running dispute over ownership of the sea.
Rovshan Ibrahimov, the head of international relations at Qafqaz University in Baku, believes there should be tougher penalties for those who sell sturgeon flesh and caviar as well as for the poachers.
Ibrahimov believes the new quota system must stress the responsibility each country has for nurturing the young fish, and must make provision for a possible moratorium on fishing to allow the population to regenerate.
He warns that such measures will only work if they are accompanied by tough action stop poaching, “otherwise it will simply increase illegal fishing”.
The head of the Tabigat environmental group in Kazakstan, Mels Eleusizov, believes the quota system is only a half-measure which will not be enough to save the sturgeon. He would like to see rigorous steps taken to protect spawning areas.
The chances of an oil spill have also been raised since Kazakstan joined the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, increasing the number of oil tankers crossing the Caspian. “Even a minor accident resulting in an oil spill in a closed-in area of water like the Caspian will be a major catastrophe for the sturgeon,” said an NBCentralAsia observer in Ashgabat.
Agreeing common regulations to protect the sturgeon will be a difficult task given that the unresolved question of where the maritime boundaries should lie in the Caspian.
“There will always be problems with one country accusing another of breaching some accord until there is joint responsibility and until a single inter-government organisation is granted powers to deal with Caspian issues,” said NBCentralAsia political analyst Eduard Poletaev.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws opinion from a broad range of observers across the region.)
Representatives from the Caspian states agreed to work out a new quota distribution system for sturgeon fishing during a joint Water and Biological Resources Commission meeting on August 11.
Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran all border the Caspian, and catch various species of sturgeon for their flesh and caviar. Up to 90 per cent of the world’s black caviar comes from the Caspian.
The current system, which excludes Iran, allots fishing quotas according to the contribution each state makes to replenishing stocks. Russia’s quota is 70 per cent, Kazakstan 18 per cent and Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan around six per cent each. Iran’s catch is not included in these percentages.
The new system would involve Iran, too, and would incorporate added criteria such as the efforts each country puts into tackling poachers and limiting environmental damage to marine life and coastal areas.
Even though the quota system is designed to preserve stocks, poachers still account for at least 70 per cent of the total catch. The CITES committee (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) says that large numbers of sturgeon are dying because of oil pollution from industry.
NBCentralAsia experts say that the Caspian countries urgently need to adopt a strict common policy on poaching and environmental damage. But for this to work properly, they will need to resolve their long-running dispute over ownership of the sea.
Rovshan Ibrahimov, the head of international relations at Qafqaz University in Baku, believes there should be tougher penalties for those who sell sturgeon flesh and caviar as well as for the poachers.
Ibrahimov believes the new quota system must stress the responsibility each country has for nurturing the young fish, and must make provision for a possible moratorium on fishing to allow the population to regenerate.
He warns that such measures will only work if they are accompanied by tough action stop poaching, “otherwise it will simply increase illegal fishing”.
The head of the Tabigat environmental group in Kazakstan, Mels Eleusizov, believes the quota system is only a half-measure which will not be enough to save the sturgeon. He would like to see rigorous steps taken to protect spawning areas.
The chances of an oil spill have also been raised since Kazakstan joined the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, increasing the number of oil tankers crossing the Caspian. “Even a minor accident resulting in an oil spill in a closed-in area of water like the Caspian will be a major catastrophe for the sturgeon,” said an NBCentralAsia observer in Ashgabat.
Agreeing common regulations to protect the sturgeon will be a difficult task given that the unresolved question of where the maritime boundaries should lie in the Caspian.
“There will always be problems with one country accusing another of breaching some accord until there is joint responsibility and until a single inter-government organisation is granted powers to deal with Caspian issues,” said NBCentralAsia political analyst Eduard Poletaev.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws opinion from a broad range of observers across the region.)
