Documents

Activities to mark the “Caspian Sea Day” in Russia were carried out annually from 2008 to 2019, and 10 celebrations took place.

In Russia, celebration of the Caspian Sea Day was launched in 2008 with holding the Caspian Ecological Forum (August 11, 2008, Astrakhan).  It aimed to discuss national mechanisms for the Tehran Convention implementation in the context of ensuring ecological safety and socio-economic development of the Caspian region of the Russian Federation.

The first event under the “Caspian Sea Day” celebration took place in Astrakhan, on August 12, 2008.

Of 10 events within the framework of the “Caspian Sea Day” fest, six were organized to discuss thematic areas of the Tehran Convention's activities (in the format of meetings, round tables):  three - at the national level and three - at the regional one.  Of these, five events took place in Astrakhan and one event was held in Makhachkala.

The materials in English language are available in the second part of the attached document. 

In accordance with Article 18 (2) of the Tehran Convention, the Parties developed the Strategic Convention Action Programme (SCAP). The SCAP is a comprehensive, long-term agenda and framework for the implementation of the Tehran Convention and its Protocols over a period of 10 years. It was adopted at COP 2 in Tehran, Iran, 10-12 November 2008.

Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea. Adopted at COP 2 in Tehran, Iran, 10-12 November 2008.

Marine litter, including plastic and microplastic, is a global concern affecting all the oceans and seas of the world. It poses environmental, economic, health and aesthetic problems that are rooted in poor solid waste management practices, lack of infrastructure, indiscriminate human activities and behaviours and an inadequate understanding on the part of the public of the potential consequences of their actions. Development of the Caspian Marine Litter Action Plan is embodied in the Moscow Protocol against pollution from land-based sources. 

The preparation of the draft Caspian Regional Marine Litter Action Plan (CRMLAP) was undertaken by the national experts from the Caspian Sea littoral states and an international expert. For that purpose, five National Experts were contracted to provide their national inputs and contributions for the development of the Caspian Marine Litter Action Plan where the International Expert fully facilitates the development of the Caspian Marine Litter Action Plan.

The Ural sturgeon yield-to-fishery relative to river discharge was the highest in the Caspian Sea till recently. The environmental conditions to secure natural reproduction are still satisfactory for successful sturgeon reproduction. However, nowadays the catch in all regional sturgeon species is negligible. The Ural sturgeon population dynamics are analyzed along with some anthropogenic and natural factors affecting them. It is argued that legal overfishing (including all legal means of fish removal), based upon (a) faulty estimations of sturgeon stock and catch limits and (b) inappropriate fishery policies are the principal reasons for the stock decline in the Ural. The maintenance of the natural reproduction in the Ural is considered to be the primary strategy for the stock replenishment. If used at all, artificial propagation should be used only as an additional secondary option exclusively at the historical sturgeon habitats upstream the Ural river and not in the river delta, where the hatcheries are located now. Transboundary cooperation of basin countries with active inter- national involvement is essential to prevent further deterioration of the situation. ***The attached copy is furnished to the author for non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the author’s institution, sharing with colleagues and providing to institution administration. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the chapter (e.g. in Word or TEX form) to their personal website or institutional repository.***