The Caspian Sea, the last cradle of sturgeons

The Caspian and Black Seas have always been home to the largest numbers of sturgeon. Until the end of the 1980s, the Soviet and Iranian governments shared the exploitation of Caspian sturgeon, while managing their decline.

At that time, the Russian organization responsible for producing and exporting Russian caviar (the Soviet Prodintorg) and its Iranian acolyte (the Iranian Shilat) had set up a system of artificial reproduction, releasing millions of in vitro fertilized fry into the Caspian Sea!

Unfortunately, this was not enough to repopulate the Caspian Sea. And in 1991 came the final blow that no one had anticipated: the break-up of the USSR into fifteen sovereign independent states, including Russia. Wild caviar was in its last hours of glory. The countries bordering the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) have begun to plunder sturgeon reserves to produce caviar.

Overfishing is not solely responsible for this disaster: Pollution has also played its part in the extinction of the species. To make matters worse, an American micro jellyfish is said to have arrived in the Caspian Sea and threatened the kilka, a small fish of the herring family that forms the sturgeon’s staple diet.

The sturgeon, which has been protected since 1998 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or Washington Convention), is threatened with extinction. Fishing was banned in 2008.

Fishing quotas between 1998 and 2008 failed to repopulate the sea. For the first time in the history of caviar, none of the traditional caviar-producing countries can now export caviar.
The end of wild caviar.

Did you know? : For over 15 years, the farmed caviar market has been highly protected. All sturgeon species have been protected since 1998 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a convention that imposes strict regulations on the international caviar trade. This convention, also known as the “Washington Convention”, states that each signatory state is responsible for enforcing rules to preserve protected species, including the sturgeon. In France, the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy is responsible for enforcing the regulations. All sales of caviar to professionals must be declared, including purchases by private individuals traveling abroad.