CITES novinky
Inclusion of Sturgeon Acipenseriformes spp. in Appendix II

06/20/1997

Materiály 10. konference CITES

Analyses of Proposals to Amend the CITES Appendices (IUCN)


Inclusion of Sturgeon Acipenseriformes spp. in Appendix II

Germany and The United States of America

Ref.: Doc.10.89 No.10.65

The proposal seeks to include all Acipenseriformes in Appendix II. The following species are proposed for inclusion in accordance with Article II. 2.(a): Acipenser baerii, A. gueldenstaedtii, A. nudiventris, A. stellatus, Huso huso.

All other species not already included in the appendices are proposed for inclusion in Appendix II in accordance with Article II 2.(b) for reasons of similarity of appearance. These are:

A. dabryanus, A. fulvescens, A. medirostris, A. mikadoi, A. naccarii, A. persicus, A. ruthenus, A. schrenckii, A. sinensis, A. transmontanus, Huso dauricus, Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi, P. hermanni, P. kaufmanni, Scaphirhynchus albus, S. platorynchus, S. suttkusi, Psephurus gladius.

The following species are already listed in the appendices:

Appendix I: Acipenser brevirostrum, A. sturio
Appendix II: A. oxyrinchus (subspecies: A. o. oxyrinchus, A. o. desotoi), Polyodon spathula

1. Introduction: All but two of the species proposed for listing in Appendix II are considered by IUCN as globally threatened: six are Critically Endangered; eight are Endangered; six are Vulnerable; and one Lower Risk (Baillie and Groombridge, 1996) (see Table 1). Although only five species are proposed for listing in Appendix II under Article II 2a, other species are known to be in international trade, including: A. dabryanus, A. medirostris, A. naccarii, A. persicus, A. transmontanus and Huso dauricus. International trade involves caviar, meat, cartilage, live fish and other products. Although international trade in Sturgeon products is rarely reported to the species level, it is clear that three species supply the bulk of the trade in caviar: Huso huso (Beluga caviar); Acipenser gueldenstaedtii (Osietra caviar) and A. stellatus (Sevruga caviar). Other Sturgeon species are also fished for caviar, and their roe sold under the trade names given above. Although visual identification of products in trade is difficult, DNA testing will facilitate identification of Sturgeon products in trade.

2. Biological Parameters

Distribution and Habitat Availability: The information provided in the supporting statement is comprehensive.

Wherever they occur, in Europe, North America or Asia, Sturgeon species are threatened (Beamis and Findeis, 1994). Status information on all species included in the proposal is summarised in Table 1. All species are suffering from loss of habitat and numbers are generally declining. Of two economically important species: an estimated 25,000 Huso huso Beluga used to migrate up the Volga River to spawn in the early 1970s, but this declined to 11,700 by the early 1990s; in the Ural River migrating Acipenser stellatus Stellate Sturgeon once numbered a million, but declined to 200,000 by 1991. The main threats are habitat destruction and, in the case of commercially important species, overharvesting.

Sturgeon reproductive biology makes them vulnerable to overexploitation: although females produce large quantities of eggs, juvenile mortality is high; Sturgeons are generally long-lived and slow to mature (reaching sexual maturity at 6-25 years); and depend on large rivers in which to spawn. River habitats are under severe pressure from pollution and damming. Owing to their large size (over 5m in some species), and predictable migration and spawning patterns Sturgeon are easy to catch.

3. Trade and Utilisation: Sturgeon are fished for meat and caviar, with caviar being the most valuable product and in highest demand in international trade. From the 1850s, USA and Canada were major suppliers of caviar to Europe, but by 1910, several American Sturgeon species were virtually extinct and production had all but ceased. From 1910, caviar production was essentially limited to the USSR, but in 1953 Iran emerged as a significant exporter and shared fishing rights in the Caspian Sea with USSR until 1991. With the dissolution of the USSR, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Iran now border the Caspian Sea. The previously tightly regulated fishing cartel has given way to a largely uncontrolled and increasingly illegal fishery. Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Iran now supply approximately 90% of the world supply of caviar from the Caspian Sea. Additional small quantities are produced by China, Romania, USA, Turkey, Canada and possibly others.

Of the five species proposed under II.2.a., the supporting statement provides little information on international trade for either A. baeri or A. nudiventris. However both species were identified in a sample of caviar from New York, showing that they are in international trade, although in unknown quantities. The A. nudiventris caviar identified in New York is thought to have come from Kazakhstan where the species still spawns. During the 1980s A. nudiventris decreased from 15-20% of overall Sturgeon catch in the Caspian Sea to only 2% of the catch in recent years, as a result of river damming.

A. gueldenstaedti, A. stellatus and Huso huso are not identified individually in international trade statistics, but together are known to constitute 90% of the world's caviar production (de Meulenaer and Raymakers, 1996). The supporting statement quotes FAO data from 1988-1994 to show that world catches (Table 1) and exports (Table 9) of these species from Russia and Iran are decreasing. In contrast, FAO data on world exports showed signs of an increase in 1991/1992 (Table 12). This comparison of import and export data suggest that the decreasing catch and export levels are the result of under-reporting due to an increasing illegal trade in caviar.

The government of the Russian Federation is promoting "smoked Sturgeon", thought to be A. baeri, on the domestic and international markets. This is supported by information from seizures which suggests that legal and illegal fishermen and traders are becoming increasingly interested in commerce in Sturgeon meat in addition to caviar (Anon, 1997). Another Sturgeon product, cartilage, has recently been reported in trade in Hong Kong (TRAFFIC-East Asia).

Recent information shows that there is an active caviar trade from Azerbaijan to Turkey, Dubai and Germany that may involve A. gueldenstati, A. stellatus, A. nudiventris and Huso huso. Turkish exports are apparently of very low quality as exports in 1995/1996 to the USA were selling for US$ 15.80 and US$ 11.90 per kilogramme respectively, in contrast to the usual value of caviar of US$200 per kilogramme (Anon, 1997). A. persicus is apparently caught in large quantities by Iranian fisheries (TRAFFIC Europe, 1997).

Caviar from Heilongjiang Province, China was on sale at Beijing International Airport (TRAFFIC East Asia, 1997). According to Customs data, from 1991-1994 China exported an average of 14,252 kg of caviar per year, presumably mainly from A. darbyranus (TRAFFIC Europe, 1997). Contrary to information in the supporting statement, caviar from A. medirostris and A. transmontanus may be in international trade, as a United Kingdom importer reported the import of caviar from North America which may have been either of these species (TRAFFIC Europe, 1996). A. ruthenis is known to be traded internationally for the aquarium and aquaculture trades.

In addition, to the information on aquaculture provided in the supporting statement, commercial propagation of A. baeri is reported to be increasing. A. dabryanus and A. sinensis are bred on the Yangtze river for release of circa 200,000 fingerlings each year (Anon, 1997).

4. Conservation and Management: Information on protection and management is summarised from the supporting statement in Table 1.

5. Information on Similar Species: The supporting statement does not discuss the difficulty of distinguishing Sturgeon products in trade. However, it should be noted that new techniques (DNA analysis) are available that may facilitate species-specific identification of caviar and other Sturgeon products in trade. Concern has been raised that these techniques will prove prohibitively expensive, but this concern does not seem warranted. As caviar is a high quality product, a number of commercial importers have expressed an interest in being able to determine the source of their shipments to ensure that they are buying legal and quality products.

Reviewers: B. Elvira, K. Keenlyne, G. Ruban - IUCN/SSC Sturgeon Specialist Group; Martin Jenkins, WCMC, UK;
TRAFFIC Europe, Belgium.

References:

Anon., 1997. Beijing Review, 13-19 January.
Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (Eds.). 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Beamis, W.E. and Findeis, E.K. 1994. The Sturgeon's plight. Nature 370:602
de Meulenaer, T. and Raymakers, C. 1996. Sturgeon of the Caspian Sea and the International Trade in Caviar. Species In Danger report. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK.
TRAFFIC East Asia, 1997. In litt. to TRAFFIC-International, Cambridge, UK.
TRAFFIC Europe, 1997. In litt. 1997 to TRAFFIC-International, Cambridge, UK.