Iranian fishermen initially hated seals.
Caspian News continues to take care of seals – the only mammals that live in the waters of the Caspian Sea. Our interlocutor – Amir Sayad Shirazi, the General Director of Caspian Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre established in Iran on Ashuradeh Island a few years ago – the first seal «clinic» in the Caspian Region. We have photographed Amir with a souvenir made by the wives of Iranian fishermen. In this way, the Centre involves the families of fishermen in an alternative business so that they would not perceive seals as their competitors for fish.
Caspian News: Amir, you are heading the Centre for the rescue and rehabilitation of Caspian seals. As far as I know, such a center is a kind of hospital for seals and is the only one in the large Caspian region, is not it?
Amir Sayad Shirazi: Actually, it is not a hospital for seals, but rather a pilot project, a centre that brings together a variety of resources to help seals. To date, it is the only center in the whole Caspian Region, and one of its main objectives – the integration of the entire region, because seals migrate across the waters. It is essential that efforts of the various parties should be united in order to create a system for seals protection and rehabilitation, a network of centers that would work together in the name of saving Caspian seals.
The continuation of this interview is on the web-site of our partner – Caspian News International Informative Portal:
https://casp-news.ru/person/iran/snachala-iranskie-rybaki-nenavideli-tyuleney.