Baku State University (BSU) actively engages in educational outreach activities that aim to raise awareness on a variety of environmental and social issues, including overfishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and destructive fishing practices. Our university, as a key educational and research institution in Azerbaijan, recognizes the importance of preserving marine biodiversity and ensuring the sustainable use of aquatic resources.

Through various faculties, particularly the Faculty of Ecology and Soil Science and the Faculty of Biology, BSU organizes workshops, seminars, and awareness campaigns that focus on sustainable fishing practices. We collaborate with national and international organizations, governmental bodies, and NGOs to educate both students and the wider community on the harmful impacts of overfishing and IUU fishing, and promote strategies for conservation.

A scientific seminar titled "Priority Directions of Sturgeons" took place at the Faculty of Biology in Baku State University (BSU), where Chingiz Mammadov, an associate professor from the Department of Zoology and Physiology and a candidate of biological sciences, delivered a presentation. Mammadov highlighted the critical need to preserve the gene pool of sturgeons and maintain their population levels amidst escalating natural and human-induced pressures on marine ecosystems.

At a time when the impact of various natural and anthropogenic factors on the marine ecosystem is at its highest, preserving the gene pool of sturgeons and keeping their quantity in nature at a stable level is one of the urgent issues.

The speaker said that at present all Caspian littoral countries are engaged in cart raising there is a shortage of pathogens of natural origin in the factories. The issue of intensification of sturgeon aquaculture can be solved thanks to the application of new progressive technologies to production, on the one hand, and the development of sturgeon breeding for commercial purposes, on the other hand.

The researcher voiced his suggestions in order to eliminate the sturgeon spawning shortage, forming future spawning and reproductive herds in fish breeding plants, and intensifying sturgeon aquaculture.

He noted that fish breeding is based on the "caviar to caviar" principle to form reproductive flocks of sturgeons of natural origin in their factories, partial hunting and plant of natural origin species that have not reached sexual maturity to grow to maturity under conditions of natural origin it is possible to get sexually mature eggs from the causative agents by surgical methods.

In order to intensify the aquaculture of sturgeon, it is possible to determine the sex and maturity stage of future spawners and reproductive flocks formed in fish breeding plants and farm fisheries by non-invasive ultrasound diagnostics (USM) method. Since 2012, the determination of the sex and maturity stage of the formed future breeders and reproductive flocks by the USM diagnostic method, their grouping

He emphasized that despite efforts by all Caspian littoral countries to engage in sturgeon aquaculture, there remains a shortage of naturally occurring pathogens in hatcheries. Mammadov proposed addressing this issue through the adoption of advanced production technologies and the promotion of sturgeon breeding for commercial purposes. He outlined strategies to address the shortage of sturgeon spawning, including the formation of future spawning and reproductive herds within fish breeding facilities and the intensified cultivation of sturgeons.

Mammadov underscored the importance of implementing the "caviar to caviar" principle in fish breeding, which involves nurturing sturgeons from egg to maturity in controlled environments. He also discussed the use of surgical methods to obtain sexually mature eggs from sturgeons and proposed non-invasive ultrasound diagnostics (USM) as a means to determine the sex and maturity stage of future spawners and reproductive herds formed in fish breeding facilities and farm fisheries.

Since 2012, Azerbaijan has been employing USM diagnostic methods to determine the sex and maturity stage of future breeding stocks, thereby reducing losses due to spawning scarcity and ensuring the availability of millions of additional fry. The seminar concluded with a question-and-answer session where participants engaged in further discussion on the presented topics.