Английский язык

19. The Gurevskaya nuclear power plant, which generates both power and desalinated drinking water, has been constructed sufficiently above sea level not to be immediately threatened by flooding. However, solid and liquid radioactive waste has been dumped in a number of depressions over karstic formations, which may be leaking radioactivity via the subsurface. Hard data on this problem are lacking.

b) Biodiversity and depletion of bio-resources

20. The Caspian is noted for its fluctuations in water level throughout times. At present, water levels are rising at a rate of up to 20cm per year. This is claimed to pose a threat to Caspian biodiversity, but this contention is easily disproved since the lacustrine and littoral biota have had a long history of adaptation to such event. The rising water level does threaten the sturgeon hatcheries that were constructed as a response to declining natural recruitment (itself a consequence of upstream dam building). These hatcheries were built too close to the shore and now need to be relocated (and modernized) if the sturgeon is to be saved. While data are incomplete, secondary contamination from flooding of industrial sites and other coastal facilities may also contribute significantly to the threat to biological resources.

21. Maintenance of the biological diversity of the Caspian, including its endemics, depends on the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem which, in turn, depends on the distinctive conditions to which biota are adapted. This includes in particular, the north-south salinity gradient, which influences animal and plant assemblages and distributions. There is an urgent need to address contamination of the Caspian environment by waste products of human activities (heavy industry, agriculture, weapons development, power generation, etc.). In parts, this pollution is quite evident and levels of heavy metals, pesticide residues and other pollutants in fish already reach levels making their consumption hazardous. Massive bird and seal kills have also been reported, and although the causes area not known for certain, pollution is suspected as the cause.

22. The sturgeon fishery is a traditional and well-known activity because of the value of caviar and fish. However, in recent times, there has been a drastic decline in the sturgeon catch. Landings have decreased from around 30,000 tonnes in 1985 to 13,300 tonnes in 1990, down to 2,100 tonnes in 1994. A quota system that was introduced together with a ban on pelagic fishing does not seem to have had the desired effect. While fishing methods have become more efficient and overfishing has occurred, the greatest impact on the sturgeon and other anadromous species is thought to arise from the construction of numerous dams on the Volga river, and to a lesser extent, on the Kura river. These dams have effectively barred the fish from their main spawning grounds, reducing such areas to a small fraction of their previous size. In addition, the development of industrial complexes on the river banks with their subsequent discharges, coupled with non – point source run – off from intensive agriculture, have led to pollution of the remaining waterways.

23. In recognition that the Volga dams had reduced the spawning areas available for sturgeon, and after the necessary research into the biology of the species, a system of hatchery production was developed. Millions of fingerlings have been produced and liberated annually from these hatcheries, and the system functioned successfully until the current rise in water levels flooded a number of hatcheries. The hatcheries system should be preserved, as the continued decline of wild sturgeon may require artificial breeding and full domestication in the very near future if the species is to survive.

24. The Caspian basin is also rich in hydrocarbon deposits, with proven extensive reserves of oil and gas. Production of both oil and gas is significant, and a great deal of exploration activity is underway. This activity increases the risks to aquatic resources, in part through the constant shipping traffic generated. To the oil industry transport must be added the fishing fleets of each country, passenger traffic, and cargo shipping that crosses the Caspian, and, by entering the Volga Don Canal, can reach the worlds oceans via the Black Sea. This traffic volume in an enclosed body of water has a number of potential impacts on Caspian biota. Stringent measures (both legal instruments and active, physical controls) are urgently needed to prevent the accidental introduction of exotic species into the Caspian through ballast water carried by ships using the Volga – Don Canal between the Black Sea and the Caspian.

c) Sea level rise