VZCZCXRO9346
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0037/01 1781259
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 261259Z JUN 08 ZDK
FM RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0290
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0251
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0219
RUEHDIR/RPO DUBAI 0282

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000037 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/26/2018 
TAGS: IR PGOV SENV PREL
SUBJECT: IRANIAN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTISTS ON CASPIAN SEA ISSUES 
 
REF: RPO DUBAI 0021 
 
DUBAI 00000037  001.6 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Ramin Asgard, Acting Director, Iran Regional 
Presence Office, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
 
1.(C) Summary:  On May 15 IRPOff met with an Iranian ecology 
professor and his wife, a marine biologist and expert on 
sturgeon fish at the International sturgeon research institute 
in the Iranian city of Rasht, located on the Caspian Sea.  The 
couple claimed that Russia and Azerbaijan are producing 
pollution in the sea, making the waters unhealthy, particularly 
for sturgeon fish, the population of which is already threatened 
and declining.  The marine biologist said Iran is guilty of over 
fishing of sturgeons for the lucrative caviar market and both 
scientists claimed their government does not places importance 
on wildlife conservation.  Since the break-up of the Soviet 
Union, the five states bordering the Caspian Sea, Iran, Russia 
and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan have not come to a 
consensus on the division of the sea and its natural resources 
(reftel).  End Summary. 
 
Pollution in the Caspian Sea - Russia and Azerbaijan blamed 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
2.(C) On May 15 IRPOff met with an Iranian ecology professor and 
his wife, a marine biologist and expert on sturgeon fish at the 
International sturgeon research institute in the Iranian city of 
Rasht, located on the Caspian Sea.  The couple described the 
ecological health of the Caspian sea as poor and claimed that 
the neighboring countries are not doing their part to protect 
the health of the sea.  They claimed that Russia is the worst 
polluter among the 5 states that share the Caspian sea mainly 
because the Volga River, which provides 80% of the Caspian 
water, carries high amounts of domestic and industrial waste 
from Russia into the sea.  They ranked Azerbaijan second because 
of oil pollution, and lack of environmental laws; sturgeons, she 
said, are very susceptible to low oxygen and the current water 
quality is not protective of sturgeons.  They ranked Iran third 
because of over fishing, and said the other two states, 
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, so far have insignificant impact on 
the sea. 
 
Caspian sturgeon faces extinction 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
3.(C) The marine biologist, who does research to conserve and 
restore the population of sturgeon, said that over fishing is 
killing this caviar fish.  She said the Caspian Sea is the 
habitat for more than 90 % of the sturgeon in the world and up 
to 90% of the world's black caviar comes from the Caspian 
region.  Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Iran 
all border the Caspian and catch various species of sturgeons 
for their flesh and caviar, however in recent years over-fishing 
has threatened the species to the point that environmentalists 
advocate a total ban on sturgeon fishing until the reserves 
replenish.  She said the Sturgeon population is so low that they 
can hardly find fish for their research purposes.  The marine 
biologist blamed over fishing.  She said it's essential for the 
government to enforce proper monitoring to prevent the 
accidental catch of young sturgeons and spawners. 
 
4.(C) According to the marine biologist, demand for caviar 
remains high with one kilogram of high quality caviar costing 
about 2100 dollars, and Iran has been playing a significant role 
in the lucrative market.  She said there has been a tremendous 
amount of sturgeon fishing in Iran in recent years, both legally 
and illegally, and sometimes they even come across poachers when 
they are doing field research.  She said they avoid them out of 
fear, and it is the government's role to control smuggling. 
 
Government careless in protecting endangered animals 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
5.(C) According to the ecologist, the government places no 
importance on wildlife conservation.  Regarding efforts to 
protect the endangered Asiatic or Iranian cheetah ("yuz palang" 
in Persian), the ecologist told IRPoff that the Iranian 
government does not care about people, let alone animals, 
because many people do not have health insurance and cannot buy 
medicine.  For example, he said the government recently approved 
construction of a major highway that cuts directly through the 
main habitat of the endangered Asiatic cheetah.  Just 2 weeks 
ago one cheetah was hit by a car and killed, the global value of 
which he said was 25 thousand dollars.  He said 
environmentalists have very little influence on government 
behavior whereas wealthy developers exert a great deal of 
 
DUBAI 00000037  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
influence.ASGARD