Caspian Sea status to be determined this autumn?

The status of the Caspian Sea will possibly be determined in autumn, this year and, hence, a legal basis for cooperation in the sphere of ecological security of the five Caspian countries will appear.

The governor of the Astrakhan Region (the lower reaches of the Volga), Anatoly Guzhvin, said this it at a seminar, Sustainable Development of the Volga-Caspian Basin and Regional Security, which took place the other day in Astrakhan.

According to him, scientists, first of all of Kazakhstan and Russia, will have to think about joint measures of combating poaching and about returning production of cartilaginous fish to the ownership of the state.

The participants in the seminar also considered solutions to the environmental problems of the Caspian Sea, prospects for cooperation between the states of the region and the border areas' potentialities.

The seminar was attended by independent experts from the International Institute of the Ocean and by scientists from all of the Caspian countries.