Caspian's sturgeon to be counted
2001-08-06 15:34
Baku - A scientific expedition which gets under way this week will for the first time give an accurate picture of the number of sturgeon left
in the Caspian Sea, expedition organisers said on Monday.
Experts say the once-abundant fish is now in danger of extinction
because of years of over-fishing and poaching to fuel the trade in
caviar, the highly-prized delicacy made from sturgeon's roe.
A research ship is due to set out on Wednesday on a six-week survey of the sturgeon population using sonar equipment that has never before been used to measure Caspian fish stocks on this
scale.
Organisers hope the data from the expedition will establish
definitively how serious the situation is and galvanise the five
countries which border the Caspian, source of 80 percent of the
world's black caviar, into better regulating sturgeon fishing.
"It's the first chance to properly define what can be a sustainable
catch of sturgeon," said Stuart Gunn, the European Union's project
manager for the internationally-funded Caspian Environment
Programme (CEP).
Until now, sturgeon stocks have been calculated piecemeal on the basis of the numbers netted by fishermen and the numbers of young fish released into the wild from hatcheries, a figure which is not
independently verified.
On board the survey vessel, the Russian "Caspian Researcher", will
be scientists from all five Caspian states - Russia, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
The ship is in the Azeri capital, Baku, waiting to embark. It plans to enter the territorial waters of all five countries, though the
government of Turkmenistan has yet to give clearance.
Iran and Azerbaijan are locked in a dispute over the division of the Caspian Sea which late last month led to an Iranian warship
threatening an Azeri oil research vessel.
However, the Iranian government has said it will put a navy officer on board the "Caspian Researcher," to ensure safe passage when it is in Iranian waters, according to Gunn.
The expedition, which will cost some $200 000 (E226 000), has been jointly funded by the Norwegian government, the
European Union and several of the Caspian states.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, has set quotas for the fishing of sturgeon in the Caspian, and this summer ordered a partial moratorium on fishing.
But experts say the quotas are too high and anyway do nothing to stop illegal fishing, which is estimated to exceed official levels by 10-15 times in the four former Soviet Caspian states.
Though the sturgeon catch in the Caspian has been falling rapidly for the past 30 years, the governments concerned have been
reluctant to take co-ordinated action, instead blaming their
neighbours for over-fishing. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA