Directive No 1866-r of 20 September 2014 will create an international legal framework for regulating sturgeon harvesting and that of other marine biological resources in the Caspian Sea.
Reference
The draft directive was
submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Agreement on the Preservation and Sustainable Management of Marine Biological Resources in the Caspian Sea, hereinafter referred to as the Agreement, was drafted in line with accords, formalised by the Protocol Decision of the Presidents of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan after the 18 November 2010 Third Caspian Summit in Baku.
The Transcript of the Meeting of Plenipotentiary Representatives of Caspian Countries of 23 December 1992 serves as the foundation of cooperation between the littoral countries in their efforts to preserve and sustainably manage marine biological resources in the Caspian Sea. An inter-departmental commission for marine biological resources in the Caspian Sea, established under this protocol, is the only effective mechanism for managing marine biological resources in the Caspian Sea, and its decisions are implemented by the concerned fishery departments.
The agreement aims to preserve and sustainably manage marine biological resources in the Caspian Sea and to manage joint marine biological resources.
A Commission to Preserve, Sustainably Manage Marine Biological Resources and to Manage Joint Resources, hereinafter referred to as the Commission, shall be established to achieve the Agreement’s goals by the concerned parties.
The Commission shall do the following:
· Coordinate efforts to preserve joint marine biological resources and ensure reproduction and sustainable management;
· Stipulate total annual permissible catches for joint marine biological resources and allot national fishing quotas;
· Regulate catches and the preservation of joint marine biological resources based on fishing restrictions;
· Approve fishing regulations concerning joint marine biological resources;
· Approve and coordinate agreed-upon research and development programmes with regard to joint marine biological resources, and ensure their regular implementation;
· Stipulate sturgeon and sturgeon-food export quotas.
The Agreement is subject to ratification under Federal Law On International Treaties of the Russian Federation because it allows the Commission to pass decisions seen as mandatory by the parties to the Agreement.
The adopted decision will make it possible to create an international legal framework for regulating sturgeon catches and those of other marine biological resources in the Caspian Sea.
The document was
reviewed and approved at a Government meeting of 18 September 2014.