BANDAR ANZALI -- Oil pollution has caused destructive effects on larvae and sturgeon fry in the Caspian Sea, a senior official with the state Fishery Organization said here Monday.

"Oil pollution resulting from oil wells near the Caspian, seepage of agricultural and industrial wastes to the rivers flowing to the Caspian Sea has adversely affected the lives of sturgeon fry," Mohammad Pourkazemi, head of International Caviar Research Institute of the state Fishery Organization told IRNA.

He said that the water runs from the northern part to the southern part and from the western banks to the eastern banks.

The official noted that compared to other littoral states, Iran makes a "meager" contribution to the oil pollution in the Caspian.

He said that oil slick poisons poultry and destructs plant life in this sea.

Pourkazemi added that after the breakup of the former Soviet Union, the littoral states have reduced their caviar production due to the economic woes.

The Caspian Sea is estimated to contain the world's third largest reserves of oil and gas after the Persian Gulf and Siberia, which has prompted a bitter rivalry among the coastal nations since the breakup of the former Soviet Union.

Iran would agree with an equitable sharing of the oil-rich Caspian which would put its share at 20 percent.

Earlier, also officials said that Iran is witnessing a constant drop in its production as poaching and pollution continue to take a toll on the Caspian Sea's sturgeon population.

"During the past 20 years, some 140 million sturgeon from the Caspian have disappeared," an Iranian official recently said, blaming the phenomenon on illegal fishing amid increasingly high prices for the black delicacy.

Iranian authorities say the sharp fall in the sea's sturgeon population is also linked to a partition of the inland sea's resources.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 which created three new Caspian countries -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan -- the sea's sturgeon population dropped from 200 million in 1990 to 60 million just five years later.

Caviar was discovered in the 19th century by Russian fishermen and is mostly destined for markets in Europe or the United States where customers are willing and able to pay much higher prices.

Press also reported earlier that between six and eight tons of contraband high-quality caviar were being sold each year to countries in Europe and North America.

(IRNA)