Iran renews ban on sturgeon fishing
The endangered fish is used to make caviar. Israel also has a strong caviar export industry.
Iran and other states along the Caspian Sea have renewed a ban on the fishing of beluga sturgeon.
Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, who are parties to the Caspian Sea Aquatic Resources Convention, renewed the ban on the commercial fishing of sturgeon, the state-run Press TV reported Wednesday.
Why it matters: Sturgeon fishing has been banned in the Caspian Sea since 2011. The fish is highly endangered due to overfishing, habitat loss and illegal trade of caviar, according to the World Wild Fund for Nature.
Sturgeon is used to make caviar, and caviar from sturgeon in the Caspian is particularly famous. However, Iran and other states on the Caspian Sea are not the top caviar exporters in the world in terms of monetary value. The top three caviar exporters in 2021 were China, Italy and France, while the top importer was the United States, according to the economic data website Tridge.
