Caspian Caviar Quotas Ineffective

Caspian Caviar Quotas Ineffective





    
 
January 2007  - Quotas on Caspian 
Sea caviar exports are ineffective and will not help restore 
dwindling sturgeon stocks, according to analysts and 
ecologists in Kazakhstan, one of the countries bordering the 
landlocked sea. 
Up to 90 percent of all sturgeon caviar on the world market 
comes from the Caspian. 
Sevruga caviar from Caspian Sea sturgeon. (Photo courtesy 
Cardullos) 
On January 2, the Secretariat of the UN Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, lifted the 
almost total ban on the export of caviar it imposed last year, 
and the Caspian countries can this year resume exporting 
sevruga and osetra caviar. However, total volumes have been 
reduced by 15 percent compared with 2005. 
Analysts, however, say last year's ban and the new quotas are 
ineffective. “A one year of ban for caviar export is not 
enough to restore the stock,” said analyst and journalist 
Eduard Poletaev. 
Most sturgeon begin to spawn at 16 to 21 years of age, but 
high levels of illegal fishing in the Caspian Sea mean that 
most sturgeon do not ever reach spawning age. 
Mels Eleusizov, who heads the environmental group Tabigat, 
suggests the best way to protect fish stocks would be for 
CITES to again refuse to issue export quotas for caviar, 
effectively banning the export of sturgeon products. 
Mels Eleusizov leads the environmental group Tabigat, based in 
Almaty. (Photo courtesy Tabigat) 
Also key, he said, is for the five Caspian states to work 
together. The five states are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, 
Russia, and Turkmenistan. 
“The allocation of quotas will be considered by our side as 
the approval of the caviar sale, and it means that illegal 
fishing and selling will occur,” said Eleusizov. 
“The problem can be solved only by joint actions of all 
Caspian states. At the moment, he said, "there isn’t any 
approach to solve the problem." 
Water contamination related to the oil industry is one such 
problem and poses a huge threat to sturgeon stocks. 
Environmentalists have urged the Caspian littoral states to 
step up their environmental monitoring efforts. 
“The biggest threat for sturgeons is oil, no poacher can cause 
as much damage as those who recover oil,” said Poletaev. 
“The development of oil recovery, which has been poorly 
thought through from the environmental point of view in such a 
landlocked water body as the Caspian Sea, can destroy fragile 
ecosystems and lead to the complete extinction of sturgeons,” 
warned Poletaev. 
{Published in cooperation with News Briefing Central Asia and 
the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, IWPR.}