After long commercial fishing shutdown, abundant anchovy in the Caspian Sea caught by Russian fisheries

Commercial fishing in the Caspian Sea – the largest inland water body on the planet – has resumed and is producing at better-than-expected levels.Last year brought results exceeding those of 2019 – the first year fishing of certain key species had been allowed in the sea for years. Now, scientific forecasts and recommended harvests for 2021 have increased further still, making the sea a potential growth area for Russia's commercial fishing sector. Territorial control of the Caspian Sea is divided among Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Iran, but commercial fishing was banned in the sea for 20 years in order to help its stocks recover. Fishing was first permitted again in 2019, and then in 2020 catches ended up being significantly higher than expected. Last year, Russian fisheries caught 16,900 metric tons (MT) of various species, and the forecast for 2021 is 115,000 MT, the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) said in a statement. Of ...