Caspian Sea: An Overview
According to Medlem-Spray website, the three picturesque provinces are bound by Caspian Sea in the north and Alborz Range in the south. The landscape is divided into a multitude of valleys whose rivers drain into the sea.Caspian Sea, the largest landlocked lake in the world, is located in northern Iran. The Iranian Caspian coast, including the three littoral provinces of Gilan, Golestan and Mazandaran, with its thick forests and large-scale rice paddies presents a striking contrast to the dry inner plateau of Iran.
There are several roads connecting Tehran to the three provinces, all through breathtakingly beautiful scenery, across the mountains or alongside rivers. One of the roads from Tehran to Chalous on the Caspian coast, winding north across the rugged Alborz mountains, passes the popular ski resort at Dizin.
With their tropical climate in summer and mild winters, beautiful sandy beaches and scenic beauty, the three provinces are very popular among Iranians as a holiday and weekend resort. Numerous holiday and residential complexes and private villas dot the landscape.
The total area of Caspian Sea is 435,000 square kilometers or one-fourth the size of Iran.
Nomenclature
Caspian Sea has been called the Hyrcanian, Abaskun, Jorjan, Khorasan, Tabarestan, Mazanderan, Xvalyn and Khazar, with the last three names used in Persian, Azeri and Turkish languages. The most populous parts, namely the southern and western Caspian coasts, belonged to Iran until the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD.
Culturally and linguistically, they retained their Iranian character in the following centuries, but in the Middle Ages, the population became fused with the incoming waves of Turkic nomadic tribes, and these immigrants accounted for an increasingly large component of the ethnic makeup.
Coastline
Caspian Sea’s coastline is 6,397 km long, of which more than 900 km is along the Iranian side. About 128 large and small rivers flow into the sea from Iran and Sepidroud, Shalman, Shafaroud and Tonekabon are the largest rivers. The highest salinity level reaches 12.7 ppt (about 1/3 of the ocean salinity) during summers. The average water temperature in the coastal regions throughout the year ranges from 15.9 degrees centigrade to 17 degrees centigrade. Temperature difference between the coldest area in the north and the warmest area in the south is 4 degrees centigrade during winter and 16 degrees in summer.
Fish Species
There are over 120 fish species in the southern part of Caspian Sea, which are commercially divided into sturgeons and bony fishes. The bony fishes are also divided into sardines and other species. The main commercial species are as follows:
Sturgeons: Beluga (Huso huso), Russian sturgeon (Acipenser guldenstadti), Iranian sturgeon (A. persicus), and Sevruga (A. stellatus). The Iranian caviar--a famous and exclusive product worldwide--is produced by these species.
Bony fishes: Kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum), Mullets (Mugil auratus and M. saliens), Carp (Cuprinus carpio), Bream (Abramis brama), Pike-perch (Lucioperca lucioperca), Roach (Rutilus rutilus) and Salmon (Salmo trutta caspius).
Sustainable Fisheries
Iranian Fisheries has put great emphasis on development of sustainable fisheries. Large sums of money are allocated for the preservation of sturgeons. Because of their importance, fishing sturgeons, caviar-producing species, is only the responsibility of the state-run Iranian Fisheries.
It also monitors methods to prevent overfishing and damage to fish stocks. For example, beach seining is the only allowed fishing system for licensed cooperatives to catch bony fishes other than sardines. In order to prevent illegal fishing, marine guards control activities in the Caspian Sea.
Iranian Fisheries has established Iranian Fisheries Research and Training Organization to extend technical and scientific support to fisheries-related activities.
Funds are allocated to researches on identification and conservation of fish stocks. Millions of fingerlings are produced annually by Iranian Fisheries and released to ensure the sustainability of different fish species in Caspian Sea.
The fingerlings of the following species are produced by Iranian Fisheries: Rutilus frisii kutum, Acipenseridae and Abramis brama.
Threats to Biodiversity
Caspian Sea is connected to the open sea through the Volga River. This makes it very vulnerable to the effects of industrial pollution. Oil exploration activities by the Caspian Sea littoral states have increased in the past decade.
There are also international plans to transfer oil and gas through underwater pipelines in Caspian Sea. These activities will certainly have adverse effects on the marine and coastal ecosystems of Iran.
On the domestic front, development of coastal communities, the sewage flowing into the coastal waters and polluted rivers threaten the coastal ecosystems. Population increase and unemployment in the region also increase illegal fishing. Manmade barriers and obstacles close the migration routes of fishes, leading to the destruction of many spawning grounds.
These problems should be addressed to protect the fish species as well as the livelihood of fishermen living along the Caspian coastline.
