The “fishy” business: a qualitative analysis of the illicit market in black caviar

What are the drivers of the occurrence of illegal fishing and conservation barriers of sturgeons in the Caspian Sea?

“…Stocks of the Caspian sturgeon have shown a sharp decline over the past two decades for several reasons, especially the spread of IUU fishing (Dmitrieva et al, ; Zabyelina, ). Commercial sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea has historically been the most important part of the region's fisheries by producing about 90% of the world's wild caviar (Ivanov, Vlasenko, Khodorevskaya, & Raspopov, ; Pourkazemi, ).…”

“…Implementing these regulations still faces certain challenges, as despite the Caspian littoral states banning the harvesting of sturgeon, non‐compliance with rules by a large number of fishers takes place and IUU fishing has been reported as one of the main causes of sturgeon decline (Lagutov & Lagutov, ; van Uhm & Siegel, ; Ye & Valbo‐Jørgensen, ). According to estimates, the IUU catch in the Caspian Sea is by volume several times the legal catch (Lagutov & Lagutov, ; Pikitch, Doukakis, Lauck, Chakrabarty, & Erickson, ; Pourkazemi, ; Zabyelina, ). Although executive agencies such as the Iranian Fisheries Organization have attempted to improve sturgeon restoration and conservation, there is little sign of sturgeon stock improvement and the artificial breeding of sturgeons for restocking is currently facing a shortage of adult fish.…”

“…Moreover, Iran was once the leading country in supplying black caviar, as it had not faced severe limitations on sturgeon fishing through tight control (state monopoly) over the caviar industry. Nonetheless, this created a lucrative loophole for organized poachers to smuggle black caviar from the northern Caspian states, and then mix and re‐pack it as Iranian licensed caviar (Zabyelina, ).…”

“…In this regard, assessing the behaviour of illegal fishers on the Russian coast of the Caspian Sea using field‐ and interview‐based surveys has shown that sturgeon harvest and conservation policies have affected fishers' decisions and responses (Ermolin & Svolkinas, ). Recent reports indicated the existence of an organized criminal network in the Caspian regions, which have an important role in the illegal exploitation and trade of sturgeon caviar because of factors such as scarcity, the high prices paid for caviar, social instability, corruption, and defects in the monitoring and control systems (van Uhm & Siegel, ; Zabyelina, ). Using questionnaires, face‐to‐face interviews with fishers and experts, and other similar approaches have been reported as reliable methods to determine the drivers of non‐compliance with fishing regulations, as well as to estimate catch volumes, species composition, and by‐catch in Africa (Gandiwa, ; Luomba, Chuenpagdee, & Song, ), North America (Blank & Gavin, ; Lancaster, Dearden, & Ban, ; Walker et al, ), Europe (Moutopoulos, Dimitriou, Katselis, & Koutsikopoulos, ), and Asia (Daliri, Kamrani, Jentoft, & Paighambari, ; Pramod, ; van Uhm & Siegel, ).…”

Mislabeled and counterfeit sturgeon caviar from Bulgaria and Romania

“…Caviar, which is harvested from sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseriformes), is one of the most expensive animal products in world trade. Not surprisingly, poaching is a major threat to the survival of sturgeon species worldwide (Doukakis et al., ; Zabyelina, ). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessments in 2009 (IUCN ), sturgeons are considered to be the most critically endangered group of animals worldwide.…”