Following 2006 ban, CITES authorizes 2007 quotas for all
Caspian Sea caviar except beluga
Geneva, 2 January 2007 – The Secretariat of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) has today published the export quotas
for caviar and other sturgeon products from the Caspian
for 2007.
The publication of 2007 quotas contrasts with the situation
in 2006, when the Secretariat did not publish caviar quotas
for the Caspian Sea’s sturgeon fisheries because the five
States concerned – Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan – did
not provide sufficient information about the sustainability
of their sturgeon catch.
Recognizing that sturgeon stocks have declined in recent
years, the States bordering the Caspian Sea agreed amongst
themselves to reduce the combined catch quotas for the Sea’s
six sturgeon species by an average of 20 % compared with
2005, with reductions of one third for some species.
In line with these reductions, the combined quotas for
caviar exports are 15 % lower than for 2005, the last year
for which quotas were published. Quotas for caviar exports
from Persian and stellate sturgeon have been reduced by
over 25 %, while quotas for caviar from Russian sturgeon
have risen by 23 % (see the table below).
The fact that the catch quotas have been reduced more than
the caviar quotas is largely due to the decision by the
Russian Federation to use fewer of the fish it catches for
restocking hatcheries and a higher percentage for caviar
exports.
It has not been possible to publish quotas for beluga,
the world’s most valuable caviar, because the information
provided by the five range States is not yet complete. Tasked
by the 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 an additional month to provide the missing information
before a final decision is made.
“The decision taken by CITES last year not to publish caviar
quotas has undoubtedly helped to spur improvements to the
monitoring programmes and scientific assessments carried
out jointly by the five Caspian neighbours”, said CITES
Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers.
“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. 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,” he added.
Meanwhile, recognizing that sturgeon stocks in the Black
Sea/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 the Russian Federation,
the Secretariat is seeking further clarification of information
submitted by the States concerned and has not been able
to publish a quota at this stage.
Mr. Wijnstekers added, "Although many of the measures
adopted by CITES are aimed at exporting countries, importers
also have important obligations. 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 labelling of repackaged caviar".
Additional background
As caviar stocks continued to decline through the 11000s,
the Parties to CITES decided to place all sturgeon species
that remained unlisted on its Appendix II as of 1 April
1998. Since then, all exports of caviar and other sturgeon
products have had to comply with strict CITES provisions,
including the use of permits and specific labelling requirements.
In 2001, CITES responded to high levels of poaching and
illegal trade in the Caspian Sea by agreeing to a temporary
ban. Extensive discussions and stronger actions by the range
States were required before the annual quotas could be agreed
for 2002 to 2005. The Secretariat was unable to publish
quotas for 2006.
With the agreement of the sturgeon range States, the rules
on how to set quotas under CITES have become increasingly
rigorous. 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 also a popular local delicacy
in many of these countries, they must also 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.
The CITES Secretariat is administered by the United Nations
Environment Programme.
Michael Williams or Juan-Carlos Vasquez