Expert warns Caspian Sea marine life faces extinction
Published: Wednesday, November 05, 2008
CASPIAN – ENVIRONMENTAL – POLUTION
00:17GMT—7:17PM/EST
Washington, 4 November (IranVNC)—Researchers at the Caspian Institute in Iran today waned that the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest lake, is facing “death” due to environmental pollution, Alef news website reports, citing the semi-official Mehr News Agency as its source.
A number of Iran’s experts have expressed concern about pollution and environmental degradation, saying that as a result, the number of species living in the Caspian has declined and many are now endangered, the report added.
“Every day, hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of chemical, industrial and oil by-products are dumped into the Caspian” by surrounding countries, Alef news website quoted environmental expert Mohsen Haqqi, as saying in an interview with Mehr News Agency,
Iran’s northern provinces dump five million tons of [industrial] by-products in the Caspian yearly, the report said.
More than 90 percent of the world’s sturgeon population and 114 other species of fish are found in the Caspian, the populations of which have experienced a sharp decline in the past decade due, in part to unregulated fishing.
Haqqi today advocated “convening special groups” to monitor environmental developments in the Caspian Sea.
Source: Alef News website
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(Original article written in Persian.)