MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's State Fisheries Committee proposed on Thursday the introduction of a five-year moratorium for all Caspian littoral states on the fishing of caviar-producing sturgeon.

"I will propose that our Caspian partners introduce a moratorium on catching sturgeon for at least five years," Andrei Krainy, the committee's chairman, told the press.

The Caspian states are Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

The move comes in an effort to combat a decline in the sturgeon population in the Caspian Sea, which has dwindled almost forty-fold in the last 15 years.