Translated material
Caviar is worth the candle
The struggle for the state monopoly on sturgeon fishing and black caviar trade is heating up
“A law providing for the introduction of a state monopoly on sturgeon fishing, as well as on the production and sale of black caviar, may be adopted as early as this year,” Deputy Chairman of the State Fisheries Committee Vladimir Izmailov told the Interfax agency yesterday. According to him, “the document needs serious finalization, but the adoption of this bill is necessary.”Discussions about the need to preserve the population of the Caspian sturgeon have been going on for a long time: a bill on the conservation and rational use of sturgeon fish stocks, which specifically provides for the introduction of a state monopoly, was submitted to the State Duma at the end of May. The first reading was scheduled for early October, but the persuasion power of opponents of this law is probably too great - the bill has not been heard until now.
A state monopoly on sturgeon fishing and caviar circulation would be quite beneficial for the State Fisheries Committee. “This would help improve the quality of management in the industry and put a barrier on the path of poachers and illegal trafficking,” representatives of the committee told the Vremya Novostei newspaper.
Market participants themselves speak about the need for strict control in the face of a huge volume of illegal fishing. “We have long advocated for the catching, processing and sale of sturgeon to be under state control. Now, for example, 100% of caviar sold under our brand in Moscow is fake. We haven’t delivered a single kilogram of caviar to Moscow,” Nikolai Shirmanov, executive director of the Astrakhan OJSC Russian Caviar, told the Vremya Novostey newspaper.
All caviar suppliers with whom we were able to talk confirm that if the situation with illegal fishing does not change, in a few years sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea will cease. “Whether it will be within the framework of a state monopoly or not is not so important. Our company has been fishing sturgeon since the 20s, now we have technology, equipment, specialists, and it would be unreasonable to take all this away from us and transfer it to some other organization. However, I am sure that only a state monopoly today is capable of preserving sturgeon in the Caspian Sea,” said Mr. Shirmanov.
At the same time, companies with a more recent history are concerned about the prospect of the state monopolizing the market. Elin Musaev, manager of the company ARLENEX, which sells caviar, recalled that “there was already a monopoly in Soviet times, so we have already gone down this path once: it will lead to nothing but an increase in smuggling. This is detrimental to the entire industry."
What will happen to large companies involved in the caviar business today after the introduction of a state monopoly is not entirely clear. “It would be more correct not to monopolize the fishery, but to streamline the process of fishing and trade. It is necessary to leave several producers and sellers on the market so that there is healthy competition and equilibrium prices are established,” argues Mr. Musaev. - Naturally, catch quotas are needed, because this problem is related to the reproduction of fish. It is important that trade is allowed only through authorized firms that have special licenses and agreements with companies directly involved in fishing. By introducing a monopoly, the state is simply trying to make good money, but in the end this will lead to the death of the entire Caspian sturgeon.”
Most players in the market say that it would be much more correct to finance scientific research on sturgeon and population reproduction programs simultaneously with the fight against illegal trafficking: “We want to see targeted government activities to prevent poaching and preserve the population, but we are confident that a monopoly will not solve the problem, but will only make it worse.”