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Caspian countries have extended the ban on commercial sturgeon fishing until 2025. The decision was made during the 8th session of the Commission for the Conservation, Rational Use of Aquatic Biological Resources of the Caspian Sea and Management of Their Joint Stocks, which was held in Astrakhan.

Representatives of all Caspian states took part in the session: Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

"The parties agreed to extend the ban on commercial sturgeon fishing until 2025 and not to set export quotas for caviar and sturgeon fish for 2025. Sturgeon fishing next year, as before, will be carried out only for the purposes of scientific research and artificial reproduction," the press service of the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries said in a statement.

In order to protect fish stocks, the Caspian countries are synchronizing fish conservation and artificial reproduction activities. During the session, it was proposed to hold a forum of fishermen from the Caspian states, as well as to publish an annual bulletin of the Caspian Commission and an anniversary collection of scientific articles on Caspian Sea research.

The Commission for the Conservation, Rational Use of Aquatic Bioresources of the Caspian Sea and the Management of Their Joint Stocks was created in accordance with the agreement signed in Astrakhan in September 2014 by representatives of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. In the spring of 2016, the document was ratified by all participating countries and entered into force. The agreement provides for the possibility of the commission adopting decisions that are binding on the participating states.

The Caspian Sea is the richest water body in the world in terms of sturgeon numbers and species diversity. The maximum sturgeon catches in the Caspian basin were recorded at the beginning of the 20th century - 39.4 thousand tons and at the end of the 1970s - 27.4 thousand tons. A sharp decline in sturgeon numbers began in 1991.

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Photo: fish.gov.ru