U.S. BANS IMPORTS OF CASPIAN SEA BELUGA
CAVIAR
Conservationists
applaud government’s action under
U.S. Endangered Species Act
(Washington,
DC – September 29, 2005)
The United States today banned beluga
caviar imports from Caspian Sea nations
after they failed to provide evidence
of improved conservation plans for beluga
sturgeon, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service declared a threatened species
last year.
Caviar
Emptor – a coalition of SeaWeb,
Natural Resources Defense Council and
the University of Miami’s Pew Institute
for Ocean Science – said the ban
will provide much-needed relief for the
fish and applauded the government’s
action, which came after new import restrictions
to protect beluga sturgeon went into effect.
The United States has been the largest
importer of beluga caviar (60%) for the
past several years. The ban is effective
tomorrow when officially published in
the Federal Register and affects The Russian
Federation, Iran, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan,
which produce most of the world’s
beluga caviar.
Dr.
Ellen Pikitch, professor and director
of the Pew Institute, said, “The
beluga sturgeon, one of the most valuable
and most threatened fishes in the world,
greatly deserves this chance for survival,
but it will be a long road to recovery.”
Lisa Speer, senior policy analyst for
NRDC, added, “The U.S. has set an
important example for the rest of the
world to follow by banning beluga caviar
imports from nations that failed to take
effective action to protect beluga sturgeon
from extinction.” Dawn Martin, executive
director of SeaWeb, said consumers still
have a role to play since some Black Sea
nations may be allowed to export: “Because
a small amount of beluga caviar may remain
on the market, we continue to urge consumers
to instead choose exquisite farmed American
caviars, which are a better choice for
the environment.”
The
ban comes as scientists have grown increasingly
concerned about the beluga and other Caspian
sturgeon.
• Science magazine in August quoted
experts attending an international ecological
conference as saying, “no wild,
reproducing beluga females have been found
this year in Kazakhstan, which means there
won't be any eggs from which to raise
hatchery fish.”
•
Science also reported in September that
the most recent survey of the Caspian
sturgeon population shows “sturgeon
stocks are down 20% to 30% from last year,”
according to Mohammad Pourkazemi, director
of the International Sturgeon Research
Institute in Iran. He is quoted as saying,
“If illegal catch and environmental
deterioration continue at the same pace,
we will soon witness the extinction of
sturgeon stocks in the Caspian.”
•
A study published September 22 in Fish
and Fisheries by Caviar Emptor scientists’
Pikitch and Dr. Phaedra Doukakis said:
“Calculations indicate dangerously
small
populations of beluga and harvest quotas
equivalent to removal of nearly all mature
individuals.” The paper, the most
comprehensive review to date on the world’s
sturgeon fisheries, called for a fishing
moratorium on beluga sturgeon.
The
beluga’s rapid decline, a 90 percent
drop in population in just 20 years, is
due to overfishing, pollution, habitat
loss, lack of effective governmental management
and rampant illegal trade. The Service’s
action comes as the U.S. House of Representatives
is about to consider legislation that
would weaken the Endangered Species Act.
Today’s actions show how important
and successful a conservation tool the
Endangered Species Act is not only within
the United States, but around the world.
Caviar
Emptor led the effort to list beluga sturgeon
under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
by submitting a petition to the Service
in December 2000. Caviar Emptor also has
called for a halt to the international
trade in beluga caviar and supports the
long-term reduction of export quotas for
other Caspian sturgeon and international
funding for improved management and enforcement
practices.
For interviews with scientists, conservationists,
or food industry spokespeople, please
contact Shannon Crownover, 1-202-470-2468
shannon@seaweb.org,
or Julia Roberson, 33-6-76-51-48-08
jroberson@seaweb.org.
Video footage of Caspian sturgeon fishing
is also available.
For
more information, see www.caviaremptor.org
For a copy of the Fish and Fisheries’
article on global sturgeon declines, please
see
www.pewoceanscience.org/press/sturgeon