Caspian Sea: State of the Environment 2019

The Azerbaijan Red Book (Redlist Committee of Azerbaijan 2013) includes nine species of fish, six of which live in the Caspian Sea: ship sturgeon, Caspian brown trout, Aral barbel, Southern Caspian white-eye bream, sabrefish and estau- rine perch. These species were rare even in the 1970s and 1980s, and since the 1990s they have been pushed to the verge of extinction. In recent years, uncontrolled illegal fishing has significant- ly reduced the commercial stocks of such fish as sturgeon, Caspian brown trout, beloribitsa, capo- eta, alburnus mento, common barbel and vimba bream. These fish species, especially the sturgeon and brown trout, are threatened with extinction due to a significant decrease in the production of juveniles at fish farms. In the Russian Federation, 299 species (subspe- cies of populations) of animals and plants are listed in the Republic of Dagestan Red Book (Redlist Committee of the Republic of Dagestan 2009). A ban on catching beluga, sturgeon and stellate sturgeon is in place, which is extended to other types of fish during spawning. Sport and amateur fishing are prohibited in all artificial reservoirs and channels of the Terek River sys- tem. Eight fish species listed on the IUCN Red List, eight in the Russian Federation Red Book and six in the Republic of Dagestan Red Book have been observed at Kizlyar Bay. Eighty-one fish species have been recorded in the Agra- khansky State Nature Sanctuary, nine of which are included on the IUCN Red List, 10 in the Russian Federation Red Book, and eight in the Republic of Dagestan Red Book. Sixty-two species have been recorded in the Samur State Nature Sanctuary, seven of which are includ- ed on the IUCN Red List, seven in the Russian Federation Red Book and six in the Republic of Dagestan Red Book (Redlist Committee of the Republic of Dagestan 2009). In 2016, state environmental inspectors identi- fied the habitats of wildlife species listed in the Astrakhan Oblast Red Book, completing the rel- evant cards in accordance with the Government of Astrakhan Oblast Decree of November 2013, “On the Astrakhan Oblast Red Book”. A 2013 assessment of nesting success and ex- pert estimate of Dalmatian pelicans listed in

the Russian Federation Red Book, carried out at the Astrakhan Biosphere Reserve ornitholog- ical site, demonstrated that their numbers were stable. The colony of rosy pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) in the reserve is sufficiently nu- merous, though subject to annual fluctuation. An increase in the numbers of nesting black- winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) and Pal- las’s gull (Larus ichthyaetus) was recorded at the ornithological site. During counts conducted in 2014, six bird species listed in the Russian Federation and Astrakhan Oblast Red Books were recorded: European herring gull (subspecies Caspian gull), Pallas’s gull (listed in the Russian Feder- ation and Astrakhan Oblast Red Books), Cas- pian tern (listed in the Russian Federation and Astrakhan Oblast Red Books), sandwich tern, great cormorant, Dalmatian pelican (listed in the Russian Federation and Astrakhan Oblast Red Books) (Redlist Committee of Astrakhan 2014). The Republic of Kalmykia is the habitat of many animal and plant species included in the Russian Federation Red Book, including more than 50 rare and endangered vertebrate species found in the republic. Most of these are bird species. For example, the Republic of Kalmykia is home to the largest colony of nesting rosy pelicans. In 2014, the Chornye Zemli (Black Lands) Na- ture Reserve monitored the state of populations of plants listed in the Russian Federation Red Book. Bellevalia sarmatica is found annually in all barely disturbed habitats along the shores of Lake Manych-Gudilo in the Chornye Zemli Na- ture Reserve protected area (Redlist Committee of the Republic of Kalmykia 2014). The third edition of the Turkmenistan Red Book (Redlist Committee of Turkmenistan, 2011) includes: • 115 species of plants and fungi (three fungi, five lichen, two moss, eight fern and 97 flow- ering plant species) • 149 invertebrate and vertebrate species/sub- species (43 insect, one arachnid, one mollusc, one cyclostome, 14 fish, 20 reptile, 40 bird and 29 mammal species)

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