As per media report the coastal nations of Caspian Sea are ready for a moratorium on sturgeon fishing in the sea. The Azerbaijani ecology minister said that the moratorium will apply to commercial fishing only. He also added that Azerbaijan fully supported the proposal, which had been welcomed by President Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan has already stopped fishing for two types of sturgeon – Fringebarbel and beluga. It agreed a sturgeon fishing quota of 84 tonnes for 2010, which broke down into 46 tonnes of Russian sturgeon and 38 tonnes of starry sturgeon. The quota was agreed at a meeting of the Caspian Commission on Aquatic Bioresources in Tehran in June last year. The quota year runs from 1 March 2010 to 28 February 2011 in order to reflect the fishing season.
According to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the government is stepping up its work to tackle corruption. He said that tough measures have been taken against forestry wardens from Sheki to Shamakhi. Over 120 forestry wardens have been sacked. At the last meeting, six senior people – a national park director, his deputy and the heads of forestry warden departments – lost their jobs.
The authority has started working with the Justice Ministry to ensure that fines imposed for poaching and other environmental offences are paid. The Minster said that in 2010, individuals and organizations were fined a total of AZN 6 million ($7.5m), of which only AZN 1.2 million ($1.5m) have been paid.
