January 2013: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a circular titled “Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Republic of Azerbaijan: A Review,” which contains an overview of the history and a review of the status of fisheries and aquaculture in Azerbaijan.

FAO underscores that the preparation of the circular, which took place between 2011 and 2012, was hampered by the limited availability of official statistical data and information, leading to gaps in historical information on basic sector indicators. The circular, which is published as FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular No. 1030/4, aims to: increase awareness among small-scale fishers and aquaculturists in Azerbaijan and in Central Asia on the status, regulations, policies, plans, problems and opportunities of the sector; and inform decision makers at all levels about the role of fisheries and aquaculture in employment production, food security and poverty alleviation, as well as the sector’s contribution to sustainable growth and development in the country.

The circular stresses that the Republic of Azerbaijan has the lowest reserves of freshwater compared with the other countries in the region, and has a long coastline, of about 840 km. It highlights that despite a rich culture in fisheries and fish consumption, after the collapse of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, the fishing industry lost efficiency, along with a major decline in commercially valuable fish species both in the Caspian Sea and inland waters.

FAO underlines a recent growth in investor interest in aquaculture, which is due in part to the State Programme to Ensure Food Security, and high consumer prices for fish. FAO projects that the sector will further develop following the moratorium on all sturgeon species catch in the Caspian Sea and the development of a draft “Law on Aquaculture.” [Publication: Fisheries and Aquaculture in Aquaculture in the Republic of Azerbaijan: A Review]