Azerbaijan, Baku, 5 February / Тrend News corr. E. Huseynli / The Commission on the Caspian Sea Water Bioresources approved of a limit for sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea in 2008.
At the 28th meeting of the Commission which took place in Ashgabat, the decision was made to set 1061.02 tons as a limit for sturgeon fishing in 2008, the acting Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Ecology & Natural Resources Ministry Irada Ibrahimova said to Trend on 5 February.
Each year the Commission sets a sturgeon fishing quota for the countries bordering the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazakhstan). In 2007 the quota was 10 tons more than that of the current year.
The meeting of the Commission began on 2 February.
According to Ibrahimova, this year Azerbaijan will be able to fish 90 tons, Kazakhstan - 182.5 tons, Iran - 440 tons, Turkmenistan - 62.2 tons, Russia - 286.5 tons of sturgeon. Except of Iran (10 tons down), the quota remained the same as in 2007.
The black sturgeon export quota was set for Azerbaijan as 6,660kg, for Kazakhstan as 13,270 kg, for Iran as 42,200 kg, for Russia as 24,200 kg, and for Turkmenistan as 5,057 kg. The data was sent to the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for approval.
A working group was established to develop a mechanism for distribution of quotas between the Caspian Sea border countries.