New Year's Resolution: Caviar Ban

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It looks like Fine Dining has just been issued its 2006 New Year's Resolution. This morning, all trade in the caviar of wild sturgeon was banned worldwide by the United Nations body Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The rationale is straightforward: illegal trade by poachers far exceeds legal trade (worth $100 million a year, reports Bloomberg) of a species whose global stock is already dangerously low -- down 30% in 2004 alone. The ban producers in the regions of the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Danube River, and the Heilongjiang/Amur River. More specifically, "We were unable to approve the export quotas for this year," CITES told the BBC. The ban is to stay in effect until CITES obtains reliable stock figures from all caviar-exporting countries -- and until those countries agree to a uniform management plan. "Our recommendation is that there should be no trade at all until these quotas are published,'' said David Morgan, head of CITES' science unit in Geneva, according to Bloomberg. Compliance on the import side of trade is key, CITES said. So, while latest details are availabe in a CITES press release (click here for PDF), vendors and consumers should beware of the species and countries involved. The following sturgeon species under export quotas are: acipenser gueldenstadtii, acipenser stellatus, acipenser baerii, acipenser rutherus, acipenser nudiventris, acipenser schrenckii, acipenser persicus, huso huso, and huso dauricus. The following countries are affected by the export quotas: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro/Servia, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. The export of farmed sturgeon eggs is unaffected: the United States has been importing three-fifths of beluga caviar -- which the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has attempted to curb by banning Black Sea caviar imports (targeting beluga), effective October 28, 2005 (see Caviar Emptor). What is the current price of Imperial Special Reserve Persicus at Petrossian (New York) this morning is $7,600/kilo. For such rarities, Petrossian calmly advises "Order early to ensure availability. Limited quantities." Video : Euronews Press releases: CITES [PDF format] Caviar Emptor Related news: BBC Bloomberg Forbes (AFX) Euronews Previous articles: Super Chef vs. Governator: Todd English Fights For Foie Gras Rights Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, sturgeon, caviar --> back to superchefblog