Aug. 02, 2007

Amendments to the laws “About fauna” and “About fishing and preserving aquatic biological resources” came into force on Wednesday. According to the amendments, all poached products of sturgeon fish species are to be eliminated. Since the industrial catching of sturgeon has been prohibited since 2003, almost all caviar sold in stores and restaurants before August 1st (around 200-300 metric tons in total) was considered confiscated from poachers. This caviar is now to disappear from sale.

Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture spread an official letter on Wednesday, signed by the ministry’s fishing department’s deputy director Mikhail Glubokovsky, concerning the extraction and sale of black caviar. Amendments to the laws “About fauna” and “About fishing and preserving aquatic biological resources” come into force on August 1, 2007. According to the amendments, all poached products of sturgeon fish, crabs, and some other kinds of seafood are to be eliminated.

So far, the products confiscated by state agencies from poachers were sold by the state through the Federal Property Management Agency and specially authorized companies. Distributors and retailers estimate annual sales of black caviar in Russia at 200-300 metric tons.

Russia stopped issuing quotas for industrial catching of sturgeon fish since 2003. The annual amount of legally extracted black caviar is not over 2-3 metric tons.

Experts predict nearly complete disappearance of black caviar from stores and restaurants, and at least a 50-percent growth of the caviar’s price by the end of 2007. Most stores and restaurants have already given up or plan to give up selling black caviar.

Source: www.kommersant.com

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