Ecology

IRAN ADMITTED TO COMMISSION ON CASPIAN BIORESOURCES

Iran got an official membership in the Commission on Caspian Bioresources in its two-day 17th meeting in Baku, one of the Azeri participants in the event told AssA-Irada Friday.

The necessity of Iran's admission came after requirements by the International Convention on Endangered Wild Fauna and Flora Species, CITES to approve sturgeon fishing quotas in cooperation with all the Caspian states. These circumstances are expected to introduce some changes to the regulations of the commission.

On altering the methodology of defining quotas for sturgeon catching, the commission decided to set up a working group to work out draft changes to the approach by September 1, 2002.

Meanwhile, the appeal by the Azeri minister of ecology and natural resources to raise Azerbaijan's quota provoked strenuous debates, as more quotas for one country will cause the quotas of others to decrease, according to the source. Azerbaijan is second only to Russia on all the five criteria for sturgeon quotas.

The commission recommended a special working group to develop joint measures to fight poaching. Tough state grip over illegal sturgeon fishing in Iran and loose control in other Caspian nations were noted in the gathering.

The next meeting of the commission is scheduled for late 2002, possibly in November.]