Caspian sturgeon population collapses 90% amid ecological crisis
Oil pollution, untreated waste, and shrinking sea levels drive marine life to brink in world’s largest inland body of water
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (MNTV) — The sturgeon population in the Caspian Sea has plunged by 90% over the past four decades, driven by pollution, habitat degradation, and declining water levels, according to Kazakh lawmaker Sergei Ponomarev.
Speaking at a parliamentary committee meeting on ecology, Ponomarev warned of an impending environmental and public health crisis if urgent measures are not taken.
Ponomarev, a deputy of the Mazhilis, Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament, said the shallowing of the Caspian — along with unchecked oil extraction and discharge of untreated waste — has severely disrupted aquatic ecosystems.
“Oil production is killing off phytobenthos and phytoplankton. Untreated sewage has turned the sea into a breeding ground for disease. Biodiversity is collapsing,” he said.
The deteriorating marine environment has weakened the immune systems of aquatic life, reducing disease resistance and contributing to mass die-offs.
Sturgeon, a family of ancient fish prized for their caviar, are particularly vulnerable to disruptions in water quality and flow.
In addition to their population collapse, the Caspian seal population has declined from one million to just 100,000, largely due to weakened immune systems and reproductive disruption at traditional spawning sites, The Times Of Central Asia reports.
Ponomarev also sounded the alarm on human health risks in western Kazakhstan’s Atyrau and Mangistau regions, where he noted rising cancer rates and falling life expectancy.
If ecological decline continues, he warned, up to 5 million people could be forced to relocate by 2040, becoming what he termed “ecological migrants.”
While Kazakhstan established the Caspian Sea Institute in November 2023 to tackle the crisis, the initiative remains inactive due to unresolved funding.
Vice Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mansur Oshurbaev told lawmakers the ministry has requested 1.8 billion kazakhstani tenge ($3.4 million) to operationalize the institute in Aktau, which is expected to employ 91 staff.
Oshurbaev also revealed plans for an environmental sensitivity map of Kazakhstan’s Caspian coastline.
The map is intended to aid biodiversity conservation and prevent oil spills, which are among the most damaging threats to the sea’s ecosystem.
Scientists predict the Caspian Sea could shrink by as much as 18 meters by the end of the century, with levels possibly dropping to minus 33 meters by 2050 — a trajectory that could trigger an ecological disaster comparable to the collapse of the Aral Sea.
Over the past 18 years alone, the sea level has already dropped by two meters, according to Save the Caspian Sea, a regional environmental campaign.
Experts warn that if current trends persist, irreversible damage could devastate one of the world’s most ecologically and economically significant inland bodies of water.
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