Swedens fight against illegal caviar

 

Enforcement action against illegal caviar traders in Sweden is paying dividends, with just two tins of illicit caviar discovered by County regulators between 2006 and 2008, and the conviction in December 2008 of the two retailers for illegally selling caviar. They were fined a total of SEK22,200 (USD2,500).

The clampdown on illegal caviar in Sweden began in 2005, mainly in Uppsala and Stockholm. In November, 21 tins of osetra, sevruga and beluga caviar were confiscated in Uppsala. In court, it was revealed the caviar had come from Estonia via Finland and was half the normal price and lacked appropriate documentation.

In Gothenburg the same month, police confiscated 12 tins of caviar from three different retailers, who were similarly unable to produce the correct documentation. All were subsequently convicted of selling illegal caviar and fined a total of SEK11,400 (USD1,300).

The cases attracted high media attention, with fish retailers claiming they were unaware of the legislation. Subsequently, the relevant Swedish trade association contacted its members to inform them about the rules covering the caviar trade.

“Thanks to the authorities and the high profile media coverage, fish retailers and traders in Sweden are all aware of the regulations concerning caviar, and the illegal trade has been reduced significantly,” commented Mats Forslund, TRAFFIC Europe’s representative based in Sweden.

Original article taken from Traffic.org – the wildlife trade monitoring network

Preference for ‘rareness’ drives wild sturgeons to extinction

 

Last year biologists in France have warned that irrational preferences for rare products are likely to drive the few remaining caviar sturgeon in the Caspian Sea to extinction.

According to a report in New Scientist, the team of biologists has shown that snobbish attitudes drive a strong preference for caviar supposedly from rare species, even when the samples are the same.

Franck Courchamp and Agnes Gault of the University of Paris-South in Orsay ran taste tests at luxury receptions, where people were used to eating caviar, and among more naive consumers at supermarkets.

The consumers were presented with samples said to be from a rare and a common species although both actually consisted of eggs from farmed sturgeon.

Even before tasting, 57% of people at the luxury receptions expressed a preference for the rare caviar, while none preferred the common alternative.

After they had tasted the two identical samples, 70% of the experienced consumers said the preferred the rare sample.

It was the same story in the supermarkets, with 52% preferring the rare caviar before tasting it, and 74% expressing the same preference after they had done so.

Its very scary, said fisheries scientist Ellen Pikitch of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science in New York.

The fact that people who are not yet in the champagne-and-caviar set have the same predilection as established consumers means that threats to sturgeon will only grow with rising prosperity.

The expanding economy of China is going to put hundreds of thousands of people in reach of these kinds of luxury products, Courchamp noted.

According to Courchamp, similar preferences for the rare can drive an extinction vortex in many circumstances for example, when trophy hunters selectively target endangered animals.

In the case of caviar, it means that the availability of farmed products may do little to protect sturgeon from extinction in the absence of a total ban on trading wild-caught caviar.

According to some estimates, sturgeon could be virtually wiped out in the Caspian Sea by 2012 at current rates of exploitation.

A one-year ban was introduced by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2006, but failed to halt the sturgeons decline.

You dont save species by stopping trade for a year, said Pikitch, who runs the charity Caviar Emptor, which is striving to save the Caspian Seas sturgeon.

The next opportunity to achieve a longer-lasting ban will come in 2010, when CITES member nations will meet in Doha, Qatar.

Iran shows growing concern about declining sturgeon stock

 

The iranian government urges the president of the Caspian Sea states to sign the Convention for the Legal Regime of the Caspian Sea, which would settle the territorial rights of each country and most of all alleviate environmental concerns for the world’s largest land-locked body of water.

Some fisherman see themselfs already as the last generation of its kind in the Caspian Region. Because of heavy pollution (sewage, oil drilling, etc.), poaching and over-fishing, the sturgeon population in that region is in free fall since the last years. Some even say, that within the next 10yrs. this ancient caviar production will come to an end. 

Iran is the only mentionable state in that region that undergoes heavy efforts in order to re-stock this endangered species without a hidden agenda (as for example Russia and Kazakhstan do with their caviar mafia and corrupt system). 

Lets hope that Teheran finds a way to convince them all and to round up the table! 

Original article on allheadlinenews.com

Caviarist.com – Member of the W.S.C.S.

 

 

 

New Year intentions. It’s that time of year again. Again and again we vow to some unachievable or half-baked goals. The results are mostly a complete failure. Ashamed by ourselfes, we burry our empty words sometime between summer and autumn.

The Caviarist proves it better (altough there might be some soon-to-be-failed intentions already standing in line…)! In the search for an organization which is really dedicated in the conservation of the sturgeon species and restauration of sturgeon stocks worldwide and which earns a high credibility, I found the answer in the W.S.C.S. (yep, it may sound a bit too religious…).

But let them speak in their words:

“The Society intends to act as an international forum of scientific discussion for all persons interested in pertinent issues on sturgeons while at the same time seeking opportunities for close co-operation at an international level.

The vision for this society is to see stocks thriving once again in important sturgeon waters in the basins of Caspian, Asov, Black, North and Baltic seas, rivers in Siberia and China as well as in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada in addition to other North American watersheds. The Society therefore hopes through its activities to enhance the understanding of species protection world-wide and across national borders in regions with different cultural and political backgrounds (using the highly endangered sturgeons as case examples) in order to foster the sustainable use of natural resources that are traded globally. ” to read more…

The World Sturgeon Conservation Society e. V. might be a new thing. But it’s scientific gathering of high profilers within the caviar business is the key. Their commitment is very strong. And so is the commitment of the Caviarist to do really something good for the remaining wild sturgeons - besides this blog.

New Years intentions. It’s that time of year again. But this time, this one is for the winning team!

BTW: The W.S.C.S. is co-organizing this years International Symposium on Sturgeon (ISS6), which is held in Wuhan, China from the 25th to the 30th October.

Dying Caspian Sea: Pumping-out the marine fauna

 

Sturgeons major surviving problem besides poaching, overfishing and the dams and hydroelectric power plants that block their natural trails when going into the river systems is another black gold: OIL. The hunt for new oil reserves seems to vindicate every kind of collateral damage done against nature these days. After all its about the prospect of changing the balance of power in the world. And that’s enough reason for many to continue their efforts in turning the Caspian Sea into a cesspool!

It is frustrating to observe the sheer incompetence of the international community in preventing this disaster – or worse: supporting it. Since many years the births of humans around the coastline of the Caspian Sea are showing abnormalisms, cancer rate is skyrocketing and the water is extremely polluted.

Here some Youtube videos to share:

- Extracting troubles

- Russians seek influence over Caspian oil

- A fresh view at the recent Georgian war

 

In this light, the 5 year long ban regarding sturgeon fishing, which starts next year, seems to be a tinny attempt in finding a future for this ancient fish.

And one might think twice about consuming wild caviar from the Caspian Sea after knowing this. A much safer bet is premium farmed caviar!

The 5 year ban and a glimpse at the future of Caspian caviar

 

It is generally known that during the months of April until June 2008 the Caspian Sea states reacted on the growing pressure of international watchdogs and authorities to ban fishing of wild sturgeons in the region. Now, after the latest CITES ban (thanks to Caviar Emptor!) in 2006 all states but Iran agreed verbally to implement a 5 year ban starting in 2009. (I really hope that this verbal agreement was done with spit and a hand shake – at least)

 

This leads to the conclusion that within the next years it will be tricky to find premium quality of wild caviar coming from the Caspian Sea. Exported Caspian caviar should therefor vanish some months after the latest possible catch season – this very autumn. Meaning that after April 2009 (after the usually 6 month shelf life expired) should be no legally traded caviar around which originates from Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan. Only Iranian caviar should be visible on the connoisseurs radar. It is already a fact that prices for illegal wild caviar will go sky high! Once again.

But as the Caspian Sea states are known not only for their amazing natural ressources and landscapes it is very possible that some misguided ‘authorities’ will try to benefit from this ‘rocket science’ and sell some false labeled caviar through the usual dark channels of the underworld. The profits would be just too yummy.

So, there’s the choice we have: For the optimists on one hand it can be considered as a “real step into the right direction”, as Julia Roberson of the sturgeon advocacy group Caviar Emptor puts it. For the pesimists on the other hand this step could lead right into the pockets of greedy hipocriticals. As a swiss it is not up to me to judge but to stay neutral – and to observe. Maybe just this much: I hope for the first and fear the latter.

 

But even if this ban comes with the right motivation and goal (= to prevent the fish from extinction) it does not do real good. The time span is just to short. Sturgeons need about 12-15 years until they spawn.  In addition the females only lay their eggs every 2-4 years. And this means that in 2014 – when the ban will be lifted – there will be achieved virtually nothing. That is why some scientists suggest a much longer ban. It would take a ban lasting for four decades to be effective.

 

Why waiting, if the true alternative is already here?

 

Related article:

Telegraph

THE HUNTING PARTY – Cracking down on illegal caviar trade

Police Departments start creating their own special units to fight against organised crime syndicates who profit from illegal caviar trade.

 

USA

An interesting story is wrapped around the paddlefish in the US. A fish which is actually not a sturgeon but a close relative. The Oklahoma police observed that russian poachers living in New York and New Jersey are taking advantage of the fact that the US is tightening import permits on sturgeon eggs and did even impose a ban on beluga caviar back in 2006. This made the native paddlefish a new target for the illegal caviar traders. Or as Larry Manering, the law enforcment chief of the Wildlife Department in Oklahoma, puts it: “This is a multibillion- dollar business, and we’ve got the fish and they know it!”

So, if his unit has a poacher in their net, the poacher will face a fine of 1’000USD first. On the second run it will get costier (25’000USD) and the delinquent goes behind bars for at least 1 year.

To read original article.

 

UK

Another hunting party against illegal caviar traders is in the UK. The Brits placed their best man for this job, so it seems. Meet Inspector Nevin Hunter. Mr. Hunter and his 20-strong unit have the licence to seize caviar of any restaurant and gourmet store which do not have suficient trading documents. Chefs and alike should start to think about their own unoficial caviar canals, if they dont want to face prosecution and heavy fines.

 

This unit was set up as part of international moves to fight against illegal caviar trade. And it shows more and more that responsible authorities are putting more thoughts into this matter and get more seriously. Sturgeon poaching and trading with (or just buying!) illegal caviar is not considered a small crime anymore, but an iresponsible act that needs to and will be punished severly.

 

May the hunt begin!

 

Read original article.

Read an article about restaurants being already swooped by the caviar squad in London.

Caspian Sea is facing a dramatic natural catastrophe

 

The Caspian is an ecosystem under stress. Even in the eye of constant efforts in promoting environmental safeguards to protect the largest inland sea in the world and its resources, interests in the gas and oil sector keeps destroying the high diversity of sensitive marine habitats.

 

Petrochemical and refining complexes are the major sources of pollution. Discharges and spills from oil and gas drilling in the Sea have serious impacts on the environment and the human health. The untreated waste from the Volga River – into which half the population of Russia and most of its heavy industry drains its sewage – empties into the Caspian Sea. The Ural, Kura and Emba Rivers also empty contaminations into the Caspian from industrial pollution, municipal wastes and agricultural runoff. The air pollution from Tehran due to the old cars that lack catalytic converters falls out in the Caspian when the wind blows the smog north from Iran, contributing to pollution in the Caspian problem.

 

In Kazakhstan the cases of blood disease, tuberculosis and other diseases are four times more common in the Caspian area than the rest of the country’s average. Water, which has been contaminated by oil products in Kazakhstan, is still used for drinking water. This contamination is cited as a reason for intestinal infections in Kazakhstan’s coastal areas. Swimming in most areas of the Sea is hazardous. The higher rate of cancer is recorded in the whole area. A dramatic rise in stillbirths and miscarriages are being witnessed.

 

The chemicals and pesticides are threats as well to the flora and fauna. Contamination by DDT used in agriculture could be a factor contributing to the disappearance of the Caspian sturgeon because it could be a cause of infertility. The Caspian sturgeon and Caspian seal have been dying in large numbers. The heavy pollution, combined with illegal overfishing, public indifference, weak environmental laws and regulation and a territorial dissension from the 5 caspian states, hinders any attempt to permit a future for the home of 75% of the world’s sturgeon population and over 400 species that are only to be found in the Caspian Sea.

 

 

The challenge of protecting the Caspian’s environment will remain a highly difficult task.

 

 

Crossed fingers will not be enough…

 

 

Caviar Production

Follow a short introduction into the production process of caviar. It’s very impressive!

Altough the people in the video dont seem to follow best practices of hygienic control (note that there are no sluices to seperate the different processes and nobody is wearing masks to prevent bacterial contamination).

And a tip regarding tin sizes: the bigger the tins, the more liquid accumulates on the bottom (‘swimming caviar’). For me the best sizes are 125gr. and 250gr. of unrepackaged tins!

(Video comes in french. So, brush up!)

 

Caspian Caviar, and its last gasps

It is commonly known, that the Caspian Sea is facing a dramatic natural catastrophe.

Even in the eye of constant efforts in promoting environmental safeguards to protect the largest inland sea in the world and its resources, interests in the gas and oil sector keeps destroying the sensitive marine habitats of the sturgeon. The heavy pollution, combined with illegal overfishing, public indifference and territorial dissension from the 5 caspian states, hinders any attempt to permit a future for the home of 90% of the world’s sturgeon population.

In addition, there is the problem with small local fishermen, who are driving the prices down by selling a poor quality of caviar. Complains, that point out the unprofessional state of these fishermen, arise into the public awareness. They were often caught in fishing dead sturgeon, storing sturgeons without cooling and mixing different sorts of caviar into one can.

In other words: Buying Caspian Caviar means to acquire a product with the highest market price, which is polluted, endangered, illegal, unethical and which could even have adverse health effects for the consumer.

Wild Caviar tarnishes the image and high reputation of caviar.

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