Caspian Seal population has been decreased by 90% in the past century for which reason this species has been mentioned as Endangered species on IUCN Red List since 2008. Conservation of Caspian Seals have started in Iran since year 2000, and after DoE Marine Affairs signed an MoA with Dutch Rescue Center for Aquatic Canines, a Research and Rescue Center for the Caspian Seal in Ashuradeh Island was established in 2010 and ever since Payaboomkav Institute has been able to save 83 seals. Indeed, Caspian Seals are the only mammal species of the Caspian Sea and at top of the food chain, this flagship species helps in balancing the fish population and plays a critical role in the ecosystem health.
Caspian Seals in the southern waters of the Caspian Sea however are threatened by two anthropogenic factors: they get injured by fishermen or they get trapped in fishing nets (especially sturgeon fish nets that are vertical and have large mesh size and could strangle the seals). In both cases awareness raising about the importance of the Caspian Seal and how to avoid damage to this species seems to be critical. Therefore, the project aims to continue with previous awareness raising and advocacy work as well as training rescue teams from local communities and local NGOs. It is worth mentioning that since 2015, the center has been running on a volunteer basis and has been supporting other Caspian countries through knowledge and experience sharing on saving the Caspian Seals.