The Fisheries Research and Production Center - a subsidiary of the National Agrarian Science and Education Center - and the Institute of Hydrobiology have embarked on a study of the Caspian seals under the 2018-20 program, Trend reports citing Kazinform.
The study focuses on the Caspian seals' nutritional status, hauling-out, population conditions in the Kazakh part of the Caspian Sea as well as possible threats to their survival, including overfishing, habitat degradation, contamination, and entanglements. Notably, the Caspian seal is introduced in the IUCN Red List (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) as endangered species.
The study suggests some legislative amends to the Environmental Code including limited oil operations, restrictions on navigation and fishing near haul-outs of the seals. The study also centers on raising public awareness on the impact of fishing on population conditions of the Caspian seal.