Azerbaijan, Baku, April 24 / Trend M. Aliyev /
Baku hosts the 33rd meeting of the Commission on Aquatic Bioresources of the Caspian Sea.
The delegations from ministries and fishery committees of Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan attend the meeting.
The Kazakh President's proposal on banning the commercial fishing for sturgeon was welcomed at the summit of heads of Caspian-littoral countries, held in Baku on November 18, 2010, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Rauf Hajiyev said.
He stressed that the agreement on "Protection of sturgeon stocks in the Caspian Sea", proposed by the Russian Federation, will be discussed at a meeting.
Head of the Iran's fisheries organisation (Shilat) Ali Asghar Mojahedi said at the meeting that the cooperation of the five Caspian-littoral countries can create the conditions to resolve the problems.
The purpose of this event is to coordinate cooperation for the effective use of biological resources of the Caspian Sea, he said.
Deputy chairman of the Kazakh Fisheries Committee Nariman Zhunusov informed the participants about the work undertaken by Kazakhstan in this area.
Kazakhstan bans the industrial sturgeon fishing. Otherwise, infringers will be sentenced for a term up to three years with confiscation of property. Only in 2012, Kazakhstan processed 2.7 tons of sturgeon, Yunusov said.
Member of the Russian delegation Valeriy Paltsev said that Russia is taking measures to preserve and increase fish stocks of the Caspian Sea. According to the program adopted in the Russian Federation, the comprehensive measures will be carried out till 2020.
Head of the Turkmen delegation, chief of the Scientific and Production Department of the Turkmen State Committee for Fisheries Orazmuhammet Muradov said that the efforts of all the Caspian countries are required to achieve these objectives.
An agreement on "Protection of aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea and the efficient use of reserves" proposed by Turkmenistan was also discussed at the meeting.
The meeting will conclude its work on April 25. According to the Commission's charter, chairmanship in the Organization will pass to the Russian Federation for the next two years.