Caspian Sea 2011

State of the Environment of the Caspian Sea

and Urban Development is the body’s lead insti- tution, with the cooperation of related organi- zations such as the Department of the Environ- ment and the Ports and Maritime Organization. The aim is to coordinate efforts by local authori- ties in order to improve the Caspian Sea coastal area environment and also to enforce rules and regulations. In addition, the National Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan, covering the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Caspian Sea, was completed in 2008. The lead agency is the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), in cooperation with the relevant authorities. Kazakhstan: Fishery resources are managed by the Fishery Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture which is responsible for the monitoring, protection and regulation of fishery resources in the country. It is supported by the Kazakh Fisheries Scientific Research Institute (KazNIRh), which has a regional branch in Atyrau. In the Caspian Sea area, the com- mittee is represented by the Ural-Caspian Basin In- ter-regional Fishery Inspection Group. No changes were reported in the fisheries sector. Biodiversity is managed through a network of 76 protected areas (IUCN categories I-V), includ- ing strictly protected areas (categories I-II, 1672 thousand ha) and others (categories III-V, 6070 thousand ha). They are supervised by the Com- mittee on Forest and Hunting of the Ministry of Agriculture. In February 2009, the “Akzhayik” State Nature Reserve in the Ural River estuarine sea area was established by the government. Protected areas are, however, limited, making improvement difficult. Pollution control in the Caspian Sea, includ- ing compliance with environmental legislation and surveillance data collection programmes, is provided by territorial divisions or inspector- ates of the Ministry of Nature Protection. It has two laboratories, in Aktau and Atyrau. The state agency responsible for Caspian Sea monitoring programmes is the State Enterprise KazHydromet of the Ministry (TACIS 2009). There are several regional hydrometeorological centres of KazHy-

dromet which undertake regular sampling pro- grammes in the Caspian Sea: Mangystau in Aktau city, and one in Atyrau. No institutional changes have been reported. The main focus of the current system of govern- ance of the Caspian environment is on monitor- ing capacity. While there have been increased attempts at improving monitoring capacity by both environmental and industrial organizations (GEF project 2007), inefficiencies in the system are seen as a barrier to achieving a better environ- ment (Questionnaire KZ 2010). Another problem is the enforcement of legislation, which is gener- ally weak in regard to prevention and punishment; consequently, there is a high level of poaching, especially by outsiders (Questionnaire KZ 2010). Russian Federation; Bioresources of the Caspian Sea in the Russian Federation are managed by the Federal Agency for Fishery of the Russian Federation (Rosrybolovstvo). It is an executive authority that has the following functions: conservation of marine biological resources, their protection, rational use, research, preservation, and reproduction of marine biology resources and their habitat (with the excep- tion of marine resources in Specially Protected Nat- ural Territories (SPNTs) of federal importance and listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation); to exercise control and supervision over marine biol- ogy resources and their habitat in the inland waters of the Russian Federation, excluding inland sea wa- ters and the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov until their legal status is determined. The Agency adopts the normative legal acts related to: methodology for calculating the amount of damage to aquatic bio- logical resources, the order of fishing for fish breed- ing, reproduction and acclimatization of marine bio- logical resources, management arrangements for fisheries’ reclamation of water bodies. The Agency conducts: a comprehensive study of marine biologi- cal resources for conservation and restoration, with the exception of marine resources in SPNTs of fed- eral importance and listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. Agency maintains the state inventory of species which are the objects of fish- ing, as well as state fishing registry, development

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