Wild Caviar, the roe of sturgeon, has been illegal for decades due to poaching, which threatened the fish’s survival. However, a team of sturgeon experts conducted genetic and isotope analyses on caviar samples from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine, bordering the remaining wild sturgeon populations. The results showed that half of the commercial caviar products they sampled were illegal, and some did not contain any trace of sturgeon.
The researchers, led by Arne Ludwig of the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research, found that the conservation status of the Danube sturgeon populations renders each individual important for their survival, and the observed intensity of poaching undermines any conservation effort. In Europe, there are four remaining sturgeon species, including Beluga, Russian, stellate, and sterlet, that are capable of producing caviar. Each species has been protected since 1998 under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
In 2000, their CITES listing was accompanied by a strict international labelling system for all caviar products designed to stop illegal trade. Despite these protections, it was widely known from local anecdotal accounts that illegal poaching is still happening. The researchers collected and analysed 149 samples of caviar and sturgeon meat, finding that 21% of the samples came from wild-caught sturgeons and that these wild-caught fish were sold in all of the countries studied. They also found that 29% of the samples violated CITES regulations and trade laws, including caviar that listed the wrong species of sturgeon or the wrong country of origin.
The large volume of illegal poaching activity could be an indicator that local seafood vendors are lacking adequate income opportunities, which might increase the pressure to engage in illegal fishing activity. They also point to the lack of effective law enforcement in these regions, either because stopping illegal poaching isn’t a priority for local authorities or because they don’t have the tools to prove a fish’s illegal origin.
The control of caviar and sturgeon trade in the EU and candidate member states urgently needs improvement to ensure the future of Danube sturgeon populations.