Статья 18«Соглашение о сохранении и рациональном использовании водных биологических ресурсов Каспийского моря» [рус., англ.]

1. Настоящее Соглашение вступает в силу на тридцатый день с даты получения Депозитарием последнего письменного уведомления о выполнении Сторонами внутригосударственных процедур, необходимых для его вступления в силу.

2. Настоящее Соглашение заключается на неопределенный срок. Каждая из Сторон может прекратить свое участие в настоящем Соглашении путем направления письменного уведомления Депозитарию о своем намерении выйти из настоящего Соглашения. Для этой Стороны настоящее Соглашение будет действовать в течение двенадцати месяцев с даты получения Депозитарием такого уведомления.

Совершено в городе Астрахани 29 сентября 2014 года в одном экземпляре на азербайджанском, казахском, русском, туркменском, фарси и английском языках, причем все тексты имеют одинаковую силу.

В случае возникновения разногласий Стороны обращаются к тексту на английском языке.

Подлинный экземпляр настоящего Соглашения сдается на хранение Депозитарию, который направляет Сторонам его заверенные копии.

(Подписи)

ON CONSERVATION AND RATIONAL USE OF THE AQUATIC BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES OF THE CASPIAN SEA

The Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan hereinafter referred to as the Parties,

guided by the desire to develop good-neighbourly relations among the States of the Parties,

recognizing that the shared aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea are the common heritage of the States of the Parties,

noting the necessity of coordinated actions of the Parties for conservation of the aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea,

taking into account the provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, signed in Tehran on the 4^{th} of November, 2003,

noting the importance of agreed scientific research for conservation, reproduction and rational use of the aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea,

taking into account the economic importance of fisheries of the aquatic biological resources in the Caspian Sea for the States of the Parties and employment of their population,

have agreed as follows:

The present Agreement applies to the aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea.

For the purposes of the present Agreement the following terms shall mean:

«aquatic biological resources» — fish, molluscs, crustaceans, mammals and other species of aquatic animals and plants;

«Commission» — the Commission for the Conservation and Rational Use of Aquatic Biological Resources and Management of Shared Stocks of such Resources;

«shared aquatic biological resources» — sturgeon fish species, sprats, seals as well as fish species included in this list by the Commission;

«reproduction» — replenishment of stocks of the aquatic biological resources, including the activities aimed at:

• conservation and recovery of natural breeding sites and migratory routes of spawners to spawning grounds;
• artificial breeding and release of larvae or juveniles;
• conservation of feeding, spawning and wintering areas;

«catch» — all the aquatic biological resources extracted from their habitat in any state within a certain period;

«fishery» — any kind of activity the purpose of which is the extraction of aquatic biological resources from their natural habitats;

«target fishery» — extraction of the fish species which are the main purpose of the fishing activities;

«commercial fishery» — target fishery, excluding the fishery for the purposes of artificial reproduction and fishery for scientific purposes;

«by-catch» — catch, extraction or harvest of a species of biological resources during target fishery for another species of biological resources.

The purpose of the present Agreement is the conservation and rational use of the aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea, including the management of shared aquatic biological resources.

For implementation of the present Agreement the Parties shall cooperate on the basis of the following principles:

1. priority of the conservation of the aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea over their commercial use;

2. sustainable use of shared aquatic biological resources;

3. application of generally accepted international rules, acceptable to the Parties, regarding the fishery management and conservation of the aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea;

4. conservation of the ecological system and the biological diversity of the aquatic biological resources in the Caspian Sea;

5. use of scientific research as the basis for conservation of the aquatic biological resources and management of shared aquatic biological resources;

6. compatibility of the measures on conservation, rational use of the aquatic biological resources of the Caspian sea and management of the shared aquatic biological resources throughout the habitat area of the species.

Under the present Agreement the Parties shall cooperate in the following areas:

1. carrying out agreed scientific research;

2. working out measures on management of fishery of shared aquatic biological resources;

3. working out measures to combat illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing and illegal trade in aquatic biological resources;

4. collection, provision and exchange of the fisheries statistics in a format agreed upon by the Parties;

5. development and implementation of short-term, medium-term and long-term programs of reproduction and conservation of shared aquatic biological resources and their habitats, including the release of juvenile of sturgeon fish species;

6. working out recommendations on the use of the fishing gears and fisheries technologies for shared aquatic biological resources;

7. exchange of scientific information and specialists, holding of workshops, conferences and training courses.

1. The Parties shall carry out fishery of the shared aquatic biological resources on the basis of the total allowable catch, national quotas determined in accordance with the uniform criteria established by the Commission, common regulation measures, mutual obligations in combating illegal fishing and reproduction measures.

2. In case the Parties have not agreed upon quotas, the latest decision on quotas adopted by the Commission shall apply.

3. If one of the Parties has no possibility to utilize its quota in the total allowable catch, that Party may provide access to the remainders of its quota in the total allowable catch to the other Parties by means of conclusion of bilateral agreements and other arrangements in accordance with the national legislation.

Commercial fishery of sturgeon fish species is carried out in rivers and their estuaries, as well as in marine areas established by the decision of the Commission, taking into account the traditional fishing techniques of each of the States of the Parties.

1. The by-catch of sturgeon fish species should be minimized with the compulsory registration of such facts.

2. The keeping of the sturgeon fish species, caught as by-catch, shall not be allowed and these sturgeon fish species should be promptly returned to the natural habitat.

3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are not applicable to fishery for the scientific research, as well as to fishery for the purposes of artificial reproduction.

The Parties shall take all possible measures to combat illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing and illegal trade in aquatic biological resources, as well as of the products made from these resources.

1. In order to achieve the purposes of the present Agreement, the Parties shall establish a Commission.

2. Each Party shall appoint one representative and his deputy to the Commission. The representative of each Party shall have one vote. Each representative may be accompanied by experts at the Commission meetings. For holding a meeting of the Commission, the attendance of the representatives of all the Parties is necessary.

3. The Commission, at its first meeting, shall adopt its rules of procedure and establish the necessary working groups.

4. The Chairmanship of the Commission shall rotate every two years among the representatives of each Party in the alphabetical order of the English language.

5. Regular meetings of the Commission shall be conducted at least once a year in the territory of the State of the Party acting as the Chair.

If necessary, extraordinary meetings shall be conducted. Such meetings shall be conducted at a written request of a Party to the Chairperson of the Commission. An extraordinary meeting shall be conducted if at least three Parties supported its conducting.

6. The English and the Russian languages shall be the working languages of the Commission. Russian and Farsi shall be the languages of the meetings of the Commission.

7. Decisions of the Commission shall be taken by the representatives of the Parties unanimously and shall be made in writing.

8. The Parties shall ensure the implementation of the decisions of the Commission at the national level.

The Commission shall have the following powers:

1. to coordinate the activities on conservation, reproduction, rational use of shared aquatic biological resources;

2. to make changes to the list of species of shared aquatic biological resources;

3. to determine annually the total allowable catches of shared aquatic biological resources and divide them into the national quotas;

4. to establish the criteria for the alocation of the total allowable catch of shared aquatic biological resources into national quotas;

5. to agree upon the catch amounts of the national quota of the sturgeon fish species in case of its transfer to another Party carrying out their fishery in its rivers;

6. to regulate fishery and conservation of shared aquatic biological resources on the basis of fishing restrictions, which may include the following measures:

• prohibition of fishery in certain areas and of certain species of aquatic biological resources for certain periods;
• seasonal closures of fishery in certain areas and of certain species of aquatic biological resources;
• establishing of the minimum size and weight of the aquatic biological resources to be harvested (caught);
• determining the mesh size and fishing gears design for harvest (catch) of aquatic biological resources;
• other agreed restrictions of fishery;

7. to consider the submitted reports on the utilization of quotas on catch of the shared aquatic biological resources and the reports on the implementation of other decisions of the Commission by the Parties;

8. to consider fisheries statistics, including the number of vessels engaged in fishery, and the catch made by these vessels;

9. to approve the rules of fishery of shared aquatic biological resources;

10. to develop and approve the necessary programs and projects on conservation of rare and endangered species of shared aquatic biological resources, the list of which shall be approved by the Commission, and their habitats;

11. to approve and coordinate the agreed programs of scientific research of the shared aquatic biological resources, to determine the periodicity of such studies;

12. to cooperate with relevant specialized international organizations to achieve the purposes of the present Agreement;

13. to facilitate the settlement of disputes in the field of conservation, reproduction and rational use of shared aquatic biological resources;

14. to provide for joint evaluation of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of released juveniles;

15. to establish working groups, to define the fields and programs of their activities;

16. to monitor the implementation of the decisions taken;

17. to establish the export quotas on sturgeon fish species and products made from these species;

18. to perform other functions and take other decisions which may be necessary for the implementation of the present Agreement.

The present Agreement shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Parties under other international treaties to which their States are parties.

No provisions of the present Agreement shall be interpreted as to prejudge the outcome of the negotiations on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

No reservations to the present Agreement shall be made.

Any disputes related to the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present Agreement shall be settled through consultations and negotiations among the Parties.

1. The provisions of the present Agreement may be amended or complemented as agreed upon by the Parties.

2. Amendments and additions to the present Agreement shall be its integral part and shall be adopted as separate protocols which shall enter into force according to the procedure specified in Article 18 of the present Agreement.

The Government of the Russian Federation shall be the Depositary of the present Agreement.

1. The present Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day from the date of receipt by the Depositary of the last written notification on the implementation by the Parties of internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.

2. The present Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period. Each Party may withdraw from the present Agreement by sending to the Depositary a written notification of its intention to withdraw from the present Agreement. For this Party the present Agreement shall remain in force for twelve months from the date of receipt by the Depositary of such a notification.

Done in the city of Astrakhan on 29 September 2014 in one original in the Azerbaijani, Farsi, Kazakh, Russian Turkmen and English languages, all texts being equally authentic.

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