October 14, 2004

CITES cuts 2004 Caspian caviar quotas

BANGKOK - Cutting the 2003 export quotas in half for beluga, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora released 2004 export quotas for Caspian Sea sturgeon here Oct. 8.

"The new approach agreed here gives the governments (of the Caspian States of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan)  a strong economic stake in tackling illegal fishing. As the illegal trade declines, legal exports - and thus government earnings - will rise accordingly in future years," said Jim Armstrong, CITES deputy secretary general, in a prepared statement.

The Caspian Sea States' combined 2004  export quota for caviar from beluga - the rarest and most valuable of all sturgeon - is 50 percent of the 2003 level, or 4,425 kilograms. The quota for stellate sturgeon has been reduced by 40 percent, or 29,010 kilograms, vs. 2003. The levels of caviar from Russian and Iranian sturgeon have been cut by 10 percent.

About 90 percent of the world's caviar is harvested from the Caspian Sea, which has "high levels of poaching and illegal trade," according to CITES.

Closing a loophole that allowed sturgeon-exporting countries to carry over remaining stocks, CITES placed time limits on caviar trade. Caviar processed in 2004 must be exported by March 31, 2005. Beginning in 2006, all caviar must be exported in the same year that it is produced.

Traders in illegal caviar were able to declare their product was caught during previous years to avoid the annual quota limits set by CITES.