1. Introduction
The biological diversity of the Caspian and its
coastal zone makes the region one of the most valuable ecosystems in the world.
Many species are endemic and there are many representatives from almost all
major groups on earth. A diversified range of habitats from vast river systems
to extensive wetlands supports a diverse flora and fauna with high natural
productivity. The most important element of the fauna is the sturgeon, with 85
% of the world's population at its peak in the late 1970s. The Caspian lies at
the crossing of migration routes of millions of migrating birds and offers
refuge for a number of rare and endangered species.
Currently, 27 species of sturgeon and their
close relatives, paddlefish, are in sharp decline, and those living in the Caspian Sea, the cradle of world caviar production, are
in crisis. Sturgeon have survived since the days the dinosaurs roamed the
Earth. The question now is whether these living fossils can survive the
relentless fishing pressure, pollution and habitat destruction that have
brought many species of sturgeon to the brink of extinction. This issue is
extravagated by the fact that sturgeon reproduce more slowly than other
fish. In fact, depleted sturgeon
populations may take a century or more to recover. Currently, sturgeon face six
major problems:
· Overharvesting:
Sturgeon are the principal source of one of the worlds most expensive and
sought-after luxury goods caviar. The fish eggs, or roe, are collected from
female sturgeon after they have been caught and killed. The global caviar
market has placed a premium on sturgeon, prompting overfishing and illegal
fishing, or poaching, around the world.
· Illegal
trade: Illegal trade of
sturgeon and caviar exacerbates conservation problems. Sturgeon products,
particularly caviar, are compact, easy to conceal, and extremely valuable. A
number of sturgeon producing countries have experienced political turmoil over
the past decade; as a result, black markets have flourished at the same time
fishery management and enforcement programs exited from Soviet times have
collapsed.
· Lack of
Effective Management:
Many sturgeon and paddlefish migrate through the waters of different states and
countries, often resulting in a patchwork of catch levels, fishing seasons,
size limits and other management measures. Many of the worlds most imperiled
sturgeon populations live in politically and economically unstable countries,
further hampering effective management.
· Loss of habitat: Sturgeon migrate up rivers to spawn. Dam construction,
diversion of river water for irrigation and other purposes, and siltation of
spawning and rearing habitats have nearly eliminated spawning runs on many
large river systems used by sturgeon. Dams also alter river flow patterns,
disrupting the natural signals that sturgeon rely on in their spawning
migrations. Fish ladders, intended to help fish surmount dams, generally have
been ineffective for sturgeon.
· Pollution: Pollutants from urban and agricultural runoff and
industrial discharges have been linked to
significant reproductive and
other abnormalities in sturgeon, and to large fish kills.
With the outline of all the current problems of
the Caspian sturgeon, the purpose of the current paper is to analyze the
problem and recommend the actions of management to prevent Caspian sturgeon
from extinction. The following purposes are to be achieved in the current
paper:
1.
Describe
the ecological and geographic characteristics of the Caspian
Sea and its watershed, as key factor in understanding sturgeon
habitat;
2.
Analyze
the status and current management of the Caspian sturgeon (mainly beluga);
3.
Assess
the impacts associated with the worldwide demand for caviar;
4.
Critically
evaluate the policies associated with the management of sturgeon and the
markets for caviar;
5. Recommend what should be taken to prevent the
extinction of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea.
1.1 General characteristics of the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is located in an inland
depression on the border of Europe and Asia.
It is the largest enclosed sea in the world, with area of 390 000 square
kilometers (km2) (Map in the Appendix1). The modern Caspian Sea originated as part of an ancient, brackish
Pontic lake-sea existing 5-7 million years ago. In the Late Mesozoic and Early
Paleocene Ages, the ancient Tethys Sea occupied the area of the present Mediterranean, Black and Caspian seas. During Paleocene
and Neocene times, the Black and Caspian
Seas were joined and
separated several times. In the Mid-Pliocene, the Caspian Sea was completely
isolated from the Black Sea. The development
of the Caspian and Black Sea basins, as well
as their fauna, proceeded independently from that time. The typical
brackish-water Caspian fauna formed then and it has persisted to the present
day (Kosarev and Yablonskaya, 1994).
The Caspian can be divided into three parts: a
northern, shallow part (5-6 metres (m) deep) covering 80 000 km2, a
middle part (average 190 m) covering 138 000 km2 and a southern part
(up to 1 025 m) covering 168 400 km2 (Aubrey et al., 1994;
Aubrey, 1994) (Figure 1). The northern shoreline is strongly undulating and
includes the deltas of the Volga, Ural, Emba
and Sagiz rivers (Kosarev and Yablonskaya, 1994). The middle and south Caspian
shorelines are varied, ranging from narrow beaches fronting seacliffs to broad
sandy regions. Kara Bogaz Gol is a large gulf on the eastern shore (Aubrey,
1994), (Appendix 1).
Figure 1: Statistics for the Caspian Sea, (for 2002)
|
Surface
area km2
|
Water
volume km3
|
Coastal
length km
|
Depth
average m
|
Surface
temperature -
winter ΊC
|
Salinity
|
|
390 000
|
78 700
|
7 000
|
208
max 1 025
|
North 0-0.5
South 10-11
|
0.1-13.7
|
The currents in the Caspian are primarily
wind-generated. Maximum currents in open regions of the north Caspian are about
30 cm/s (Kosarev and Yablonskaya, 1994). In the coastal regions of the middle
and southern parts of the sea, currents correlate with wind direction and are
typically toward the north-west, north, south-east and south. Easterly currents
are also observed near the east coast. Along the western coast of the middle
Caspian, the prevailing currents are south-east and south. In this region the
current speeds average 20-40 cm/s with a maximum of 50 to 80 cm/s (Aubrey,
1994).
About 130 rivers of various sizes drain into the
Caspian with an annual input of about 300 km3 (Aubrey, 1994). The
main rivers are the Volga (80 % of the total volume of inflow), the Ural (5 %),
the Terek, Sulak and Samur (total up to 5 %), the Kura (6 %), and Iran's small rivers of the Caucasus
and others (45 %) (CEP, 1998a). Salinity in the north Caspian varies markedly,
from 0.1 at the mouth of the Volga and Ural
rivers up to 10-11 near the middle Caspian. The middle and southern parts of
the sea have only small fluctuations of salinity: surface salinity is about
12.6 to 13.5, increasing from north to south and from west to east. There is
also a slight increase in salinity with depth observed in all regions of the
sea (Aubrey, 1994).
The salinity of the Caspian Sea ranges from 0.1
in the northern part and 13.7 in the South Caspian.
Caspian salinity indicators, even in its southern parts are three times smaller
than this in Mediterranean Sea with salinity
37.59 . During the summer periods highest salinity of the Caspian
Sea remains on 1/3 of the ocean salinity. The average water
temperature in the coastal regions throughout the year ranges from 15.90C to 170C. Temperature
difference between the coldest area in the north, and the warmest area in the
south is 40C during winter and 160C during summer.
The climatic conditions of the region are
determined by the influence of cold arctic air, moist sea air masses forming
over the Atlantic Ocean, dry continental air masses from Kazakhstan, and warm air masses coming from the
Mediterranean Sea and Iran.
As a result of this air masses movement, the dominant northeastern winds are
created all over the Caspian surface. Most of the coastal areas of the Caspian
are arid lands, with sandy beaches. Soft and seaside climate and well as
presence of very beautiful sandy beaches attracts human disturbance and
creation of recreation areas.
1.2 An Outline of Caspian
Biodiversity Status
The Caspian Sea
is characterized with rich biodiversity. (Table 2) One of the most important
features of Caspian biodiversity is high endemism. The longest established
species are among the group of indigenous, brackish-water organisms. These
include a high percentage of endemic species and even genera. The rest of the
organisms found today are basically derived from the Mediterranean marine
biogeography region, the Arctic marine region or the freshwater (riverine)
complex. The Caspian is a productive sea, with 22.7 million tonnes primary
production of organic carbon per year in the northern Caspian, 50.9% in the
middle and 41% in the south (Kosarev and Yablonskaya, 1994).
The north Caspian has the greatest diversity of
both habitat and species. This is due to the big rivers, such as the Volga and the Ural, which create a zone where marine and
freshwater fauna are mixed. The Volga River system was also the ancient route for the
penetration of Arctic and Mediterranean
species, which are still found in the Caspian. The existence of vast shallows,
some deep depressions, the wide Volga Delta and other rivers, and fluctuations
of salinity from 0.12 to 10 provide different ecological niches, which, in
turn, provide high species diversity. Number of fish species and subspecies in
the Caspian are calculated to be about 126, with six species of sturgeon.
(Figure 3).
Figure 3:
Numbers of species in the Caspian Sea
|
Natural marine
resources
|
No of species
and subspecies
|
Endemic
species
|
|
Phytoplankton
|
450
|
|
|
Zooplankton
|
315
|
|
|
Phytobenthos
|
64
|
|
|
Zoobenthos
|
379
|
|
|
Fish
|
126
|
115
|
|
Mammals
|
1
|
1
|
|
Birds
|
466
|
|
Sources:
CEP, 1998a; Aubrey, 1994; Dumont, 1998;
Ivanov, 1997; Kasymov, 1994.
Protection of Caspian rich flora and fauna is
vital for the life of the Caspian sturgeon. Being one of the biggest predators
of the Caspian Sea after Caspian seal,
sturgeon also feeds on small fish, zooplankton, zoobenthos and other smaller
species. Therefore, protection of the entire biodiversity of the Caspian and
its wellbeing plays an important role in management of the sturgeon population.
1.3 Caspian Sturgeon Background
Information
1.3.1
Sturgeon Species in the Caspian Sea
Famous for
its caviar, one of the priciest and most sought-after delicacies, the sturgeon
originates from the time of the dinosaurs, and has been fished since at least
1100 B.C by the Greeks and Romans. They can live over 100 years old, weigh up
to 1,100 kilograms (2,500 pounds), and reach 4.5 meters (15 feet) in length. In
Caspian different sturgeon species are the most valuable commercial fish.
Important for their existence is the close proximity of brackish waters with
rivers (the north Caspian being the most important example). Six species of
sturgeon exist in the Caspian, belonging to the genera Huso and Acipenser
(Kasymov, 1994).
- The biggest sturgeon, the beluga (Huso huso),
reaches a length of more than 4 m and a weight of 500 kilograms (kg) in Caspian Sea (Figure 4, 5). Reproduction occurs in
the Volga, Ural, Kura, Terek and Sefidrud rivers, with the Volga being most important. With the damming of all
the major rivers, the range of migration has been reduced. The beluga
feeds on gobies, shads, carps and Mysidacae (in its first month).
In the early 20th century, the beluga accounted for nearly 40 % of the
sturgeon catch. At present, it accounts for less than 10 %. Currently,
according to the World Wildlife Federation beluga sturgeon are forth place
on the top ten list of the Worlds Most Endangered Species (WWF,
2004).
- The Russian sturgeon (Acipenser guldenstaedtii)
accounts for between 40 % and 50 % of the catch (CEP, 2001a). It uses the
Volga, Ural and Terek rivers for spawning, the Volga
being the most important.
- The Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) lives
mainly in the middle and south Caspian, preferring the warmer waters
there. It spawns in the river Kura, although some older individuals
navigate the Volga and even fewer occur
in the Ural. The feeding habits are mixed (benthic invertebrates and other
fishes) (Kasymov, 1994).
- The Sevryuga sturgeon (or starred sturgeon) (Figure 4)
represented by two forms: the north Caspian form (Acipenser stellatus
stellatus) and the south Caspian form (Acipenser stellatus
stellatus natio cyrenis). Both are spread widely throughout the sea,
but spawn in the Volga, Ural, Terek, Kura
and Sefidrud rivers. The Ural River has
become the most frequent spawning area for the sevryuga. The proportion of
sevryuga catch has increased recently to 45 % of the total sturgeon catch
(Ivanov et al., 1995).
- The Spiny sturgeon (or bastard sturgeon, or ship) (Acipenser
nudiventris) is a minor sturgeon of the Caspian. The spiny sturgeon
spawns in the Kura, Ural and Sefidrud rivers, and is rarely seen in the Volga. After the damming of the Kura River,
the Ural became the most important spawning river for spiny sturgeon. It
forages on fishes and bottom invertebrates (mixed diet). Spiny sturgeon
fishing is now prohibited in the Ural River,
because of depleted stocks; it is listed in national Red Data Books of
some Caspian countries (Kovshar, 1996).
- The Sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus), like
the spiny sturgeon, is a relatively rare type of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. Two populations exist in the Volga Basin:
one limited to the upper and middle Volga
and one semi-migratory type that forages in the brackish Caspian. Middle
Volga sterlet stocks decreased dramatically with the initial regulation of
the Volga, however, lower Volga sterlet
flourished. A similar semi-migratory population may exist in the Ural River.
Figure
4. Caspian main Sturgeon species
Data
from www.Azer.com, 2003
1.3.3 Sturgeon (beluga mainly) biological structure
in terms of habitat vulnerability
Existing
from dinosaur era and later, beluga sturgeon inhabited a wide range throughout
Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The remaining
wild beluga sturgeon populations are found only in the Caspian, Black, Azov,
and Adriatic Seas,
as well as the Dnepr and Danube rivers (CEP,
2003). Approximately 85 % of the worlds
sturgeon are found in the Caspian Sea. Beluga sturgeon is among the members of the family
Acipenseridae (CEP, 2002). Considered a living fossil the beluga sturgeon can
live 100 years, grow to 7.625 meter (25 feet)
in length, and weigh as much as 990 kilos or 2,200 pounds. Although sturgeon
has a potential to grow very big (Figure 5), the average weight for sturgeon
processed from the Caspian Sea is as low as 20 kg for Huso huso, 8 kg
for A. Gόlenstδdti and 6 kg for A. Stellatus (Azer.com, 2001).
Sturgeon is the largest of the bony fishes. They are easily recognized by the five rows
of bony plates (scutes) on their bodies. Sturgeon have sharklike tails, a skeleton that is more
cartilage than bone, and a unique spiral valve intestine that aids in food
absorption (SeaWeb, 2004).
The Beluga is remarkably strong, vigorous,
large-mouthed, and perpetually nomadic, stubbornly following one of its major
prey, shoals of whitefish. A single sturgeon can produce up to hundreds of pounds of eggs (CEP,
2000). Although female sturgeon cannot reproduce until they are 20 to 25 years old and they produce
approximately 300,000 to more than 4 million eggs, depending upon their age and
physical condition and may spawn only once every two to eight years.
Researchers have also found that if ripe females are subjected to a great deal
of stress, they may reabsorb their eggs and lose a spawning cycle. Protecting spawning females is particularly important because troubled
populations can take generations to recover (CaviarEmptor, 2004).
Figure 5. A picture
illustrating an example of beluga sturgeon sizes
From
Archive of Traffic.com April 2001
Being anadramous, beluga sturgeon live part of their lives in the ocean and ascend to
large rivers to spawn in fresh water.
Immediately after hatching, sturgeon larvae of most species
migrate to the sea where they live for 6-20 years (depending on the species)
until they mature (CaviarEmptor, 2003). At that point, females migrate back to
their river of origin to spawn. Predictable migration patterns and bottom-feeding
habits make them relatively easy prey for fishermen, who kill the fish to
collect the roe. The Kura
River was previously used
by as its spawning grounds. However, more recently the stock has decreased
mainly because of habitat destruction and raised pollution and fishing in this
river has lost commercial importance. In Azerbaijan
and Turkmenistan
the ship sturgeon is included in the Red Book (CEP, 1999). Dam construction,
diversion of river water for irrigation and other purposes, and siltation of
spawning and rearing habitats have nearly eliminated spawning runs on many
large river systems used by sturgeon (Kasymov, 1994). To learn more about
habitat destruction effect on sturgeon and pollution effects, please refer to
below chapters (2 Problems).
1.3.4
Current
demand and supply for beluga sturgeon and its caviar in the world market
Commercial
fishermen have hunted sturgeon for their roe and meat since at least 1100 BC. Ancient
Greek and Roman literature refers to caviar, and the Chinese were trading it as
early as the 10th
century AD. Today, the majority of caviar
produced is sold on the international market. Under
international labeling rules, only sturgeon eggs can carry the caviar label
(Roe to Ruin, 2000).
Virtually all
of the caviar produced by Caspian Sea nations comes from four species: beluga
sturgeon, which produces beluga caviar; Russian
sturgeon, which produces osetra caviar; Satellite sturgeon, which produces
sevruga; and Persian sturgeon, which produces Persian and osetra caviar.12 The
fifth Caspian Sea sturgeon species, the Ship sturgeon, is highly endangered and
trade of its caviar is prohibited.13 From all other sturgeon
species, beluga sturgeon is the one with superior quality of their caviar, the
most rare and, therefore, the most expensive.
The caviar of beluga is the most refined on taste and the most
beautiful: its grains are large - up to 3.5 mm in the diameter, at squashing
the white "milk" is allocated from them, and "glazok" (the
embryonic substance) is lighter than the grain and is surrounded by the thin
rim(www.caviar-line.com/). The
females of beluga give up to 15 kgs large-grained silver-black caviar. The
caviar of beluga is traditionally let out in cans with light-blue covers.
Market price for caviar set up by demand, availability, country of an origin
and quality. Thus high quality Russian
beluga caviar sold for $105 per 1 oz (28 g) jar. Another big market for sturgeon
caviar is Iran.
Figure 7 below illustrates the prices for Iranian caviar in legal market given
by caviar-line website.
Figure 7. Illustration of caviar
prices given in the caviar-line website in the example of Iran.
There
is an excessive demand and high prices for the caviar from the beluga
sturgeon. The major import markets for
caviar from Iran and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are the European Union (EU), Japan, the USA
and Switzerland.
These markets imported annual averages of 200 tonnes, 100 tonnes, 70 tonnes and
65 tonnes, respectively, between 1988 and 1994. During this period, the EU
imported roughly half of all Caspian caviar produced but exported approximately
24 percent of this amount to other countries. (www.traffic.org/) Among EU countries,
Germany was the main
importer (85 tonnes per year), but it re-exported approximately 45 per cent of
its imports to other European countries and the USA. France, where pressed caviar can
retail for up to US$600 per kilo, is the largest EU caviar consumer with 80
tonnes imported yearly and 60 tones consumed on its domestic market. The UK (20 tonnes per year) and Belgium (20 tonnes per year) follow Germany and France in importance as importers
of Caspian caviar. Japan
accounted for about 16 per cent of all Caspian caviar exports from 1991 to
1994, importing 45 to 57 tonnes per year. It imported more caviar from the CIS
than from Iran
during this period. (CITES, 2001)
The United States
is the second largest importer of beluga caviar and imported about 12,600 kg
(28,000 pounds) of beluga caviar in 1999 . It receives 70 percent of its caviar
imports from Russia. While the USA
has a commercial embargo on trade with Iran,
some 500 kilos of Iranian caviar have entered the USA
since 1991 via imports from France,
Switzerland and more
recently Dubai.
Dubai is emerging as a re-exporter of Caspian caviar largely because of the
efforts of one company, which handles approximately 15 tonnes (1750 pounds) of
caviar a year; it re-exports caviar to Europe, USA, Australia and countries in
the Gulf such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Switzerland
serves as a center for caviar imports and exports within Europe
and consistently consumes eight tons of caviar on its domestic market annually
(www.traffic.com 2002). Overally caviar
trade is characterized by significant illegal trade, tremendous profit,
increasing demand, and lack of regulations.
2.
PROBLEMS
2.2
Problems
created by demand of caviar and their outcome
2.2.1
Unregulated
overharvesting and illegal poaching
Overfishing and poaching for the
lucrative caviar market is perhaps the single biggest threat to sturgeon in the
Caspian Sea region. Each egg-bearing female
can produce 8 percent or more of her body weight in caviar. With
caviar retailing for as much as $105 per ounce, the financial
rewards of sturgeon fishing and poaching are enormous.
The caviar harvest
and trade became increasingly chaotic in the early 1990s, characterized by
poaching, illegal production, fraudulent labeling, and the emergence of
organized crime. Illegal catch reportedly accounted for approximately 90
percent of all sturgeons caught in the northern Caspian
Sea basin; because of shallow waters of the north Caspian are breeding
grounds of sturgeon. Covered with plates and resemble
armor and a long snout, a sturgeon is well-equipped for the life on the bottom
of muddy, swift-flowing rivers like Volga. Due
of sturgeon being and andronomus fish, it must to return to fresh water to
spawn on cobble that covers some river bottoms (CEP, 1999a). With value of
sturgeon roe- more than $100 an ounce makes the fish a highly prized catch.
The number of adult sturgeon living in the Caspian
Sea have declined 70% from 142 million in 1978 to 43.5 million in
1994 and this trend has continued to date (National Geographic, 2004). The
former USSR
sturgeon catches amounted in general 10-15 thousand tonnes, in 2000 the total
CIS sturgeon catch was less 1 thousand tons (TRAFFIC). Last year the Volga river fishermen underused the regional quota of 555
tonnes and harvested 450 tonnes(TRAFFIC). Two main factors, fishing at sea and
poaching in rivers, lead gradually to collapse in sturgeon stocks (Figure 8),
at that, the illegal catch was estimated to be 11-13 times greater than the
legal one.
Figure 8: Numbers of spawners in sturgeon populations in the Volga River
(thousands)
Significant
quantities of poached caviar are exported -- indeed, smuggling such caviar out
of the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea
is a flourishing business. Thus, Russia officially exported $25
million worth of caviar in 1999, while the value of poached caviar exports was
estimated at $250 million (Roe to Ruin).
Caviar smuggling into the United States
is also a usual. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, illegally
imported caviar is seized virtually every week at New Yorks
JFK Airport.
Since April, 1998, 167 seizures have yielded
31,000 pounds of caviar smuggled into the United States
