Caspian Sea Marine Life Restoration Project

Blue Marine has helped establish the first Marine Protected Area in this vast inland lake – home to the critically endangered sturgeon, whose ancestors swam with the dinosaurs. The Caspian Sea in central Asia is the world’s largest inland body of water, and sits on enough natural gas to fuel the UK at its current consumption for 32 million years. A further 48 billion barrels of oil lie untapped beneath the seabed. Set on top of such an economically valuable resource, the fragile Caspian marine environment – with its endemic species of sturgeon, salmon, seal, kutum, kilka anchovy and lamprey – is particularly vulnerable.  

As these hydrocarbons are pumped to the surface and burned, CO2 is released into the atmosphere, the planet gets warmer and fresh water becomes scarcer in this region. This leads to the construction of river dams to control water flow. They prevent many of these rare, migratory species from reaching their upper-river spawning grounds. As the northern Caspian sea-ice melts, endangered Caspian seals lose their essential birthing ice-fields.   

The Caspian is home to six species of endemic sturgeon, a fish that dates back 250 million years to the era of the dinosaurs. They are all Critical Endangered, as the dams block their migration, systematic poaching reduces stocks further, climate change alters river flow and pollution has disrupted the food chain.   

To protect these critically endangered species from extinction, our aim is to designate marine protected areas (MPAs) in key biodiversity areas, restore breeding habitats and improve fisheries management. Success requires interventions in all five relevant states. Presently Blue Marine is focusing conservation efforts in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.  

To tackle these problems Blue Marine has been working with local a NGO called IDEA to build a partnership between government, charities and local communities. In 2018, the first ever Marine Protected Area in the Caspian Sea, Gizilagaj MPA, was designated near the mouth of the Kura River. The MPA provides a sanctuary for sub-adult sturgeon and diverse Caspian marine creatures. In 2019, it was made a Mission Blue Hope Spot, a designation given to places that are scientifically identified as critical to the ocean´s health. Our work to date has seen all gill nets banned in Azerbaijan, along with the designation of the country’s first ever MPA and Hope Spot in a nursery area for sturgeon. Millions of juvenile sturgeon and Caspian salmon have been released into the Caspian Sea, and the Cure the Kura project initiated with our partners to restore upriver spawning grounds. We have compiled a database of all relevant stakeholders in the region.  

In Turkmenistan we signed a memorandum of understanding with the government for Blue Marine to advise on how the country can best designate 30 per cent protection in its Exclusive Economic Zone. The first proposed MPA will protect Caspian seal and sturgeon feeding areas. 

In 2025 we will urge Azerbaijan to designate 30 per cent, restore river ecosystems, improve fisheries management and crack down on poaching. Visits to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are also planned.