Illegal caviar trade poses major threat to Danube sturgeons

The highly endangered sturgeons of the Danube river basin are at risk because of the persistent illegal trade in their caviar involving Bulgaria and Romania, according to a newly published TRAFFIC report compiled for WWF.

The two countries hold the only viable populations of wild sturgeons in the European Union (EU), but five of the six native sturgeon species in the Danube are critically endangered and sturgeon fishing there has been banned.

According to the new report, a total of 14 seizures of illegal caviar originating from Bulgaria (27.5 kg in five seizures) and Romania (25 kg in nine seizures) were reported by EU Member States between 2000 and 2009. Neither Bulgaria nor Romania reported illegal caviar seizures themselves.

“It is of concern that Bulgaria and Romania reported no seizures of caviar, while other EU Member States registered several seizures where those two countries were implicated,” said TRAFFIC’s Katalin Kecse-Nagy, author of the report.

WWF News

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Illegal caviar trade poses major threat to Danube sturgeons

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