The Endangered http://www.care2.com/causes/there-are-only-3-critically-endangered-antelope-left-in-niger.html Caspian seal is the only mammal in the Caspian Sea, http://www.care2.com/causes/bp-signs-offshore-drilling-deal-in-caspian-sea.html which makes it the Sea's top predator. But there is one major threat to the seals: humans. In the past, hunting decimated their numbers. Today, the main threat comes from our appetite for a luxurious delicacy -- caviar. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/is-no-kill-caviar-ethical.html
History of Hunting Caspian Seals
Even though hunting seals began in the 18th century, in the 19th century, ruthless hunting destroyed the Caspian seal's population from millions to 100,000. Since 1900, over 90 percent of …show more content…
Sturgeon are "the most endangered group of species on Earth," with 23 of 27 species "on the brink of extinction." While Caspian states have tried to save the sturgeon (e.g. Russia issued a ban on fishing sturgeon in the wild), their efforts have given rise to a black market.
Like a domino effect, sturgeon are taking the Caspian seals with them. As reported in DW, one 2013 study that studied Caspian seals between 2008 and 2009 found at least 1,215 Caspian seals were entangled in sturgeon fishing nets. Ultimately, this study http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0067074
warned that overfishing sturgeon "may also be having broader impacts on the Caspian Sea ecosystem by contributing to a decline in one of the ecosystem’s key predators." One of the author's of the study, Sue Wilson, tells DW the desperate and inescapable situation that the seals are in:
"There are now hundreds, if not thousands of seals being drowned in nets and having nets surround their bodies, killing them slowly...And everywhere they go, they end up swimming into these bits of
History of Hunting Caspian Seals
Even though hunting seals began in the 18th century, in the 19th century, ruthless hunting destroyed the Caspian seal's population from millions to 100,000. Since 1900, over 90 percent of …show more content…
Sturgeon are "the most endangered group of species on Earth," with 23 of 27 species "on the brink of extinction." While Caspian states have tried to save the sturgeon (e.g. Russia issued a ban on fishing sturgeon in the wild), their efforts have given rise to a black market.
Like a domino effect, sturgeon are taking the Caspian seals with them. As reported in DW, one 2013 study that studied Caspian seals between 2008 and 2009 found at least 1,215 Caspian seals were entangled in sturgeon fishing nets. Ultimately, this study http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0067074
warned that overfishing sturgeon "may also be having broader impacts on the Caspian Sea ecosystem by contributing to a decline in one of the ecosystem’s key predators." One of the author's of the study, Sue Wilson, tells DW the desperate and inescapable situation that the seals are in:
"There are now hundreds, if not thousands of seals being drowned in nets and having nets surround their bodies, killing them slowly...And everywhere they go, they end up swimming into these bits of