Leyla Aliyeva attended the ceremony of releasing sturgeon into the water

On May 31, within the framework of the large-scale “Rich Reservoirs” project aimed at the protection and restoration of Azerbaijan’s inland water bioresources, jointly organized by the IDEA Public Union and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, a ceremony was held to release 550,000 juvenile sturgeons raised at Khilli-Baliq LLC, AzVarvara LLC, and Azerbaijan Fish Farm LLC hatcheries into the water.

The event was attended by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the IDEA Public Union.

As is known, over the past decades, populations of rare fish species in the Caspian Sea have reached the brink of extinction due to the negative impacts of human activity, pollution, poaching, and overfishing.

To comprehensively address the problem, the IDEA Public Union, together with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the United Kingdom’s Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE), implements various conservation, restoration, and public awareness measures.

The “Rich Reservoirs” project envisages measures to increase the natural populations of fish species, release various types of fish juveniles raised in hatcheries into their natural habitats, as well as reduce pollution in inland water bodies and promote fishing according to legal and civilized rules.

It should be noted that, within the framework of the project launched last May, more than 3 million juvenile fish of various species have been released into water bodies so far.

The implementation period of the “Rich Reservoirs” project coincides with the four-month moratorium declared from May 1 due to the fish spawning season.