Argentina’s quest for caviar?

Early in March appeared the news about a russian firm investing in an already existing and abandoned fish farm in the Argentine La Rioja province in order to raise sturgeon for its precious eggs.

It would take at least another 6-8 years before we see any caviar made in Argentina. And having the current market situation with increasing competition and crumbling prices in mind, I’m not sure whether this undertaking is bold or just something else…Fortunately for ZwyerCaviar, there is almost no branded high quality and ethically farmed caviar in sight.

Anyhow, here you can read the original article.

Burma starting with caviar industry?

Just stumbled over a pretty old newsflash about the burmese government looking for vietnamese fundings in order to build sturgeon aquafarms (besides salmon) in such possible locations like Putao, Myitkyina and Kanpaiktee.

After the strong market impact from Chinese sturgeon farms selling caviar, Burma could become another potential producer market, putting the price crumbling for caviar under continuing pressure.

Click here to read original article published in January 2010.

New era in fighting wildlife crime!

A glory day for all conservationists and environmentalists around the world!

Finally, wild life protection through international law enforcement agencies gets a higher priority!

Yesterday was the closing date for the 15th Conference of the Parties being held in Doha, Qatar and organised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). There are flashing lights pointing into a new, better organised and more strict law enforcement era for bringing wildlife criminal to justice. Behind bars, where they belong. Aiming to introduce this era is the recently-formed International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC). Made up of the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Bank and the World Customs Organization. Wow!

Let me quote Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of the CITES: “We are determined that there will be a level playing field and that a new era of wildlife law enforcement is introduced. An era where those who rob countries and communities of their natural resources will face a determined and formidable opposition. It is high time that more wildlife criminals end up behind bars, where they belong.”

Read full CITES press release: Bringing an organized response to organized wildlife crime

In addition to these measures, there seems to exist the rumor that the Russians want to convince all the Caspian Sea states to pass a respective general fishing ban in the entire Caspian Sea for the duration of 10yrs. Yes, that’s right. Not only for sturgeon species, but for all fish stocks. This would be the only realistic time frame so that the existing sturgeon wild populations could recover their stocks. Lets all cross fingers for that!

Sturgeons become the most critically endangered species!

This is BIG NEWS! The International Union for Conservation of Nature is putting sturgeon species on their Red List.

Following an extract from a recent press release from the IUCN:

Eighty five percent of sturgeon, one of the oldest families of fishes in existence, valued around the world for their precious roe, are at risk of extinction, making them the most threatened group of animals on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The latest update of the Red List assessed the status of 18 species of sturgeon from all over Europe and Asia and found that all were threatened.

To read full article