Committee on Fisheries announces cause of Caspian seals’ mass die-off
As reported, 172 carcasses of dead seals were discovered on the Caspian Sea coast from November 7 to December 3, 2022, in Tupkaragan district of Mangistau region. In order to investigate the cause of the mass die-off of the seals, the Committee on Fisheries attracted several organizations: the Caspian Seal Research and Rehabilitation Center, the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, LLP Scientific-Production Center for Microbiology and Ecology, LLP Kazakhstan Agency of Applied Ecology, as well as Ecology Department of Mangistau region, territorial divisions of the Veterinary Control and Supervision Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The working group came to a conclusion that virus-associated acute pneumonia had caused the mass die-off of the seals.
According to the Committee on Fisheries, «chronic poisoning of the sea animals with immunotoxic elements and compounds contributed to their increased susceptibility to infectious diseases due to a decrease in immunity and general body resistance.»
«Thus, pneumonia exacerbated by viral infections caused by a decrease in the immunity of animals and environmental pollution led to die-off of the Caspian seals in November 2022,» the statement reads.
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