Mislabeled and counterfeit sturgeon caviar from Bulgaria and Romania

Abstract

A market survey was performed on caviar from Romania and Bulgaria, two of the last range states of critically endangered sturgeons threatened by poaching and illegal trade. Twenty-seven samples were collected between April 2011 and February 2012, including two samples of Bulgarian farm caviar bought in an Austrian fish shop. Mitochondrial sequences of the cytochrome b gene and microsatellites were used for species identification. Ten samples were in agreement with the species code on their CITES labels, but four samples were mislabeled, six samples were counterfeit and four samples were offered as 'wild origin,' ignoring the fishing bans in place. At least one sample was upgraded from a lower priced species to a more expensive species. These results demonstrate the weakness of sturgeon protection in these Member States of the European Union and key range states. Therefore, we recommend intensifying conservation and enforcement efforts, including also DNA testing of caviar in containers with apparently correct CITES labels.

The future of caviar production on the light of social changes: a new dawn for caviar?

“…; Ludwig et al . ). Currently, only in the USA sturgeon caviar can be labelled as ‘caviar’; roe from other fish species must be identified with a specific term that should include the common name of the fish.…”

“…FAO and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) documents stated that roe from any fish not belonging to the Acipenseriformes species are considered 'substitutes of caviar' (CITES 2002;Carocci et al 2004). Despite these suggestions, caviar labels change in different countries and fraudulent mislabelling is a serious problem, with low-value caviar substituted for highly prized caviar, in particular in Eastern Europe countries (Birnstein et al 1998;Pikitch et al 2005;Wuertz et al 2007;Boscari et al 2014;Ludwig et al 2015). Currently, only in the USA sturgeon caviar can be labelled as 'caviar'; roe from other fish species must be identified with a specific term that should include the common name of the fish.…”

“…Labelling must be supported using analytical methods necessary to detect certified quality. Several methods such as DNA-based techniques, methods based on nucleotide polymorphisms, scanning calorimetry (DSC), N and C stable isotopes, NMR spectroscopy and reverse transcription PCR have been applied for the identification of caviar authenticity species and source (wild vs. farmed) Arvanitoyannis et al 2005;Rehbein et al 2008;Boscari et al 2014;Ludwig et al 2015;Heude et al 2016). The indication of geographical origin and modern labelling are already adopted in other fish roe.…”

Use of DNA barcoding in the assignment of commercially valuable fish species from Romania

“…However, studies show that up to 30% of fish products are mislabelled in fish markets and restaurants with the problem being particularly acute in the latter (Pardo et al, 2016). For instance, Ludwig et al (2015) showed in an analysis of 27 a These authors contributed equally to this work. caviar samples from Romania and Bulgaria, that only ten of them were correctly labelled, while the remaining samples were from Cyclopterus lumpus, a less economically valuable fish species whose roe are often used as a substitute for caviar.…”

Nineteen novel microsatellites in Chinese lake gudgeonSarcocheilichthys sinensisBleeker, 1971

“…Genetic data for this species are very limited, therefore genetic studies are critical to conserve these resources. Microsatellites are codominant markers, highly polymorphic and ideal for genetic diversity studies in fishes (Boscari et al., ; Li et al., ; Ludwig, Lieckfeldt, & Jahrl, ; Luo, Zhao, Zhang, & Peng, ; Vella et al., ).…”