Shocking study reveals half of Europe’s caviar products are illegal

By Imogen Howse via SWNS

Half of Europe’s caviar products are illegal, and some aren’t even caviar, a new study has indicated.

‘Wild’ caviar, an expensive delicacy made from sturgeon eggs, has been illegal for nearly two decades because poaching drove the fish to the brink of extinction.

New trade laws under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, were subsequently introduced to protect the fish, which means that today, internationally tradeable caviar can only come from specially farmed sturgeon.

However, new analysis has revealed that these strict regulations are actively and regularly being broken – with scientists warning that customers across Europe are being “deceived”.

A team of researchers from the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research revealed the law-breaking by buying a total of 149 caviar products, both online and in person, from markets, shops, restaurants, bars, and aquaculture facilities in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine – countries which border the remaining wild sturgeon populations.

They then conducted genetic and isotope analyses on these caviar samples and discovered that 21 percent came from wild sturgeons rather than farmed sturgeons, while 29 percent violated trade laws – such as by listing the wrong species of sturgeon or the wrong country of origin.

In Romania for example, three samples served in a dish called “sturgeon soup” were not sturgeon at all, and were instead identified as European catfish and Nile perch.

Researchers also categorized nearly a third of samples (32 percent) as “customer deception”, since some vendors were listing products as ‘wild’ when they, in fact, came from aquaculture.

Currently, Europe only has four remaining sturgeon species capable of producing caviar – with the last remaining wild populations found in the Danube River and the Black Sea.

In their study, Professor Dr Arne Ludwig said: “The conservation status of the Danube sturgeon populations renders each individual important for their survival, and the observed intensity of poaching undermines any conservation effort.”

“Our results indicate an ongoing demand for wild sturgeon products, which is alarming since these products endanger wild sturgeon populations.

“The persistent demand fuels poaching and indicates that consumers do not fully accept aquaculture products as a substitute.

“In addition, caviar being sold in violation of CITES and European Union obligations questions the effectiveness of controls in general and the labeling system in particular.”

The research, published in the journal Current Biology, argues that the prevalence of illegal poaching activity could be an indicator that local seafood vendors are lacking income opportunities and are therefore being pressured into engaging in illegal fishing activity.

Other issues could include a lack of effective law enforcement in the regions in question, either because authorities do not have the tools to prove a fish’s illegal origin or because this issue is not a priority for them.

Ludwig concludes: “Although poaching and illegal wildlife trade are often considered a problem in developing countries, these findings bear evidence that a high ratio of poached sturgeon products originates from EU and accession candidate states.

“The control of caviar and sturgeon trade in the EU and candidate member states urgently needs improvement to ensure that Danube sturgeon populations will have a future.”