Is of the Essence
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| Baltic sturgeon Image from: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/230/0 |
Friends
of Animals and
WildEarth Guardians are
working hard to ensure protection for the
members of 15
species of sturgeon at the very brink of
annihilation.
In
addition to having to cope with treacherous dams, run-off from animal farms, and
marine dead zones, they’re
threatened with the trade of their eggs as caviar
and their flesh as meat, and
their bladders are
used
to
make isinglass, a filter applied in
the
processing of certain
cask ales and wines.
Aquaculture also threatens them, as it sustains demand, and motivates further
capture of free-living sturgeon.
We
cannot emphasize enough the risk to these populations and communities! Some are
still in the hundreds, but others are down to a few dozen breeding pairs, or
even just a few individual representatives such as the up-to 8’ long Acipenser
mikadoi (Sakhalin sturgeon) found in waters around Japan–estimated
to have only 10-30 breeding pairs left.
Sign
Our Petition
Right
now we are targeting Amazon.ca and Amazon.com, which enable the
sale of caviar from many of these species. Amazon has traditionally responded
well to environmental issues, and we hope to see that continued, and that they
help preserve these fishes.
the sturgeon by enjoying vegan
offerings,
whether
it’s beer or caviar you’re into! For the beer, check out: Barnivore.com
if you thought caviar was unappealing, you might just love Cavi•Art: http://www.friendsofanimals.org/img/vegan/Caviart.pdf
to act? Here’s a plan.
1:
Please visit and sign our petition to Jeff Bezos, president of Amazon:http://www.change.org/petitions/halt-amazon-com-sales-of-caviar-from-imperiled-sturgeon-species
2:
Let’s get the sturgeon bladders out of our beer and wine. Pledge and
sign:
http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=8081.0
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| Thorn sturgeon Image from: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/225/0 |
A
Brief History of Sturgeon
Sturgeon
have always
swum
primarily in relatively
shallow freshwater
or coastal areas. Notably, these massive
fish are
not particularly predatory; they
are bottom feeders, and do not have teeth. Their long
life
spans
(often
more than 100
years) and
slow maturation contribute
to their vulnerability. Two
hundred
million years of evolution has not prepared them for the efficiency of human
consumption, which has vacuumed most of the life out of the ocean in a few
hundred years.
We’re
barely a blip on the scale of their timeline, yet our
industry is a
catastrophic blow to their existence.
Conservation
Efforts
Friends
of Animals and
WildEarth
Guardians are
petitioning the US National Marine Fisheries Service to protect fifteen sturgeon
species as “threatened” or “endangered” under the US Endangered Species Act
(ESA). Sturgeon are described by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) as the most threatened group of animals on the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species.
Sturgeon
are covered under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), yet
are
still
being
traded and
smuggled at
significant levels.
Much
more needs to be done to protect sturgeon, and ensure these populations remain
and—we
hope—thrive.
PETITIONED
SPECIESSturgeon
of Western Europe
(1)
The olive-hued Acipenser naccarii (Adriatic sturgeon) once ranged throughout the
Adriatic from Italy to Greece. Their numbers have declined from exploitation for
their flesh. Currently only about 250 individuals remain in the wild
population.
(2)
Acipenser sturio (Baltic sturgeon) can grow to 16 feet in length. Poached aggressively for caviar, they have been reduced to a single reproductive
population in the Garonne River in France.The
Caspian Sea, Black Sea, and Sea of Azov: the Heart of the Caviar
Trade
(3)
The olive-grey Acipenser gueldenstaedtii (Russian sturgeon; also known as
Azov-Black Sea or Danube sturgeon) and (4) Acipenser nudiventris (Ship, Spiny,
or Thorn sturgeon) have been commercially exploited and caught as by-catch, and
are likely on the verge of extinction.
(5)
Acipenser persicus (Persian sturgeon) are exploited for caviar and suffer
habitat loss from dams and pollution.
(6)
Populations of Acipenser stellatus (Star sturgeon) have been devastated by legal
and illegal exploitation for meat and caviar. The Black Sea population is so
depleted that commercial catch was halted in 2006.Sturgeon
of the Aral Sea and Tributaries
Three
sturgeon species, (7) Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi, (8)
Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni, and (9) Pseudoscaphirhynchu kaufmanni, have
declined or disappeared along with the Aral Sea, which shrunk by more than 60
percent from 1973 to 2000 and continues to shrink. Dangerous heavy metals and
agricultural run-off also threaten these populations.Sturgeon
of the Amur River Basin, Sea of Japan, Yangtze River, and Sea of
Okhotsk
(10)
Acipenser mikadoi (Sakhalin sturgeon) can grow to 8 feet in length and were
historically common in Japanese markets; now, only 10-30 spawning adults
survive.
Increasing
pollution from Russian and Chinese agriculture is threatening (11) Acipenser
schrenckii (Amur sturgeon), which have declined an estimated 95
percent.
Also
native to China and Russia, (12) Huso dauricus (Kaluga or Great Siberian
sturgeon) are among the world’s largest freshwater fishes, exceeding 18 feet in
length and one ton in weight. They are heavily poached for
caviar.
(13)
Acipenser baerii (Siberian sturgeon) are taken for caviar and have lost nearly
half their spawning habitat from dam construction.
(14)
Acipenser dabryanus, (Yangtze sturgeon) may only survive due to stocking, and
there is no evidence that stocked animals are reproducing
naturally.
The
massive (15) Acipenser sinensis (Chinese sturgeon) were deemed a major
commercial resource in the 1960s. Less than 300 wild individuals
remain.
Dave Shishkoff
