Caspian Caviar Quotas but Beluga in Limbo

Caspian Caviar Quotas but Beluga in Limbo

    
 
 January 2007  - Exports of caviar 
from three Caspian Sea sturgeon species will be permitted this 
year by the international organization that controls trade in 
the luxury delicacy after a year when no Caspian exports were 
allowed. Exports of beluga, the world’s most valuable caviar, 
are not yet authorized for 2007. 
The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species, CITES, today published export quotas for 
Russian, Persian and stellate sturgeon caviar and meat from 
the Caspian for 2007. 
In 2006, the Secretariat did not publish caviar quotas for the 
Caspian Sea’s sturgeon fisheries because the five countries 
concerned - Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and 
Turkmenistan - did not provide enough information about the 
sustainability of their sturgeon catch. 
"The decision taken by CITES last year not to publish caviar 
quotas has undoubtedly helped to spur improvements to the 
monitoring programs and scientific assessments carried out 
jointly by the five Caspian neighbors," said CITES 
Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers. 
CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers (Photo courtesy 
Earth Negotiations Bulletin) 
"However, ensuring that sturgeon stocks recover to safe levels 
will take decades of careful fisheries management and an 
unrelenting struggle against poaching and illegal trade," he 
said. 
It has not been possible to publish quotas for beluga, because 
the information provided by the five range States is not yet 
complete, Wijnstekers said. 
Tasked by the 169 CITES member states with ensuring that all 
required criteria and procedures for publishing sturgeon and 
caviar quotas have been met, the Secretariat has granted the 
range states until the end of January 2007 in order to give this species a chance 
to recover. 
Dr. Ellen Pikitch of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science said, 
"The most recent data shows that the condition of the highly 
endangered beluga sturgeon is worsening, and it would be 
unconscionable for CITES to open the beluga caviar trade." 
In a statement today, Caviar Emptor said "no direct evidence" 
has been provided to back CITES' claims that the Caspian 
sturgeon range states have made improvements to monitoring 
programs and scientific assessments. 
Instead, the groups said, "dramatic population declines and an 
illegal caviar trade three to five times greater than the 
legal trade speaks to the contrary." 
"The Caspian stellate sturgeon population is only 10 percent 
of what it was in 1978, and Russian sturgeon has declined 50 
percent during the same period. The 2007 export quotas for 
Russian sturgeon are 23 percent higher than they were in 2005, 
the last time quotas were published, despite any evidence that 
the health of the species has improved," said Caviar Emptor. 
Russian fisherman exults over landing a great white sturgeon. 
(Photo credit unknown) 
But CITES says sturgeon conservation depends on the sale of 
sturgeon products. "The income earned from the sale of 
sturgeon products in 2007 should provide both an incentive and 
the means to pursue the long-term recovery of this 
commercially and ecologically valuable natural resource," 
Wijnstekers said today. 
The conservationists say exports of Russian beluga caviar 
should not be allowed under any circumstances. Citing 
documents submitted by the Russian Federation at a CITES’ 
policymaking meeting in October 2006 that reveal a 45 percent 
decline in the beluga sturgeon population between 2004 and 
2005, they say the species is in "grave danger" and "should 
not be commercially exploited." 
CITES says the Caspian Sea countries have recognized the 
decline in sturgeon stocks and have agreed amongst themselves 
to reduce the combined catch quotas for the sea’s six sturgeon 
species by an average of 20 percent compared with 2005, with 
reductions of one third for some species. 
The combined quotas for caviar exports are 15 percent lower 
than for 2005, the last year for which quotas were published, 
CITES says. Quotas for caviar exports from Persian and 
stellate sturgeon have been reduced by over 25 percent. 
Last year, Caspian export quotas were not set due to what 
Caviar Emptor says was the Caspian nations’ "failure to take 
into account the extent of illegal fishing and the lack of a 
basin-wide sturgeon management plan in the region." 
Export quotas were approved in 2006 only for Persian sturgeon 
caviar from Iran. 
Caviar harvested in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast on the Volga 
River Delta. (Photo courtesy Eurasia) 
Recognizing that sturgeon stocks in the Black Sea and lower 
Danube River have been seriously depleted, Bulgaria, Romania, 
Serbia and Ukraine have requested zero quotas for 2007. 
While Serbia requested a small quota for beluga caviar 
exports, no quota has been published owing to a lack of 
agreement amongst the range states. 
In the case of the Heilongjiang/Amur River on the Sino-Russian 
border, a fishery shared by China and Russia, the CITES 
Secretariat is seeking further clarification of information 
submitted by the states concerned and has not been able to 
publish a quota at this stage. 
Caviar importers also have an important role to play in 
sturgeon conservation. Wijnstekers said, "They must ensure 
that all imports are from legal sources, and they must 
establish registration systems for their domestic processing 
and repackaging plants and rules for the labeling of 
repackaged caviar." 
Since April 1, 1998, all sturgeon species have been listed on 
CITES Appendix II, which allows trade only under permit and 
with specific labeling requirements. 
In 2001, CITES responded to high levels of poaching and 
illegal trade in the Caspian Sea with a temporary export ban. 
Annual quotas were agreed for 2002 to 2005 but not for 2006. 
Several varieties of caviar, including beluga caviar, for sale 
in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Emma Duncan courtesy WWF-Canon) 

To have their proposed quotas published, countries with shared 
sturgeon stocks must agree amongst themselves on catch and 
export quotas based on scientific surveys of the stocks. 
They must also adopt a regional conservation strategy, combat 
illegal fishing and demonstrate that their proposed catch and 
export quotas reflect current population trends and are 
sustainable. 
The CITES regime requires caviar and other sturgeon products 
to be sold during the same calendar year in which the fish are 
caught. Because caviar is a popular local delicacy in many of 
these countries, Wijnstekers says they must focus on 
strengthening their controls over domestic trade in sturgeon. 
Reduced supplies of caviar from the wild have encouraged many 
countries to establish aquaculture facilities for sturgeon, 
but "in order to preserve incentives for the conservation of 
wild sturgeon stocks it is important to maintain a catch of 
these fish at sustainable levels," Wijnstekers says. 
The conservationists of Caviar Emptor recommend consumption of 
farmed caviar purchased from reputable dealers, which they say 
reduces pressure on wild sturgeon species and frees consumers 
from worry about the possible illegality of their delicious 
treat. 
"While Caviar Emptor calls upon CITES to keep the beluga 
caviar trade closed, the good news is that farmed caviar is a 
wonderful delicacy that consumers can still enjoy," said Dawn 
Martin, president of SeaWeb. "Consumers who choose farmed 
caviar this year can do so with a clean conscience knowing 
that their actions may well be the only hope to relieve 
pressure on these ancient species."