Identification of Acipenseriformes species in trade

 

Identification of Acipenseriformes species in trade

In 2006 the CITES Secretariat engaged the assistance of IUCN to review the techniques currently available and their potential to be used in an identification system for sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseriformes) and their products in trade.

The development of a uniform identification system for parts and derivates of Acipenseriformes is an urgent requirement. This system would be a valuable tool to enforce the regulation of legal trade and help combat of illegal trade of sturgeon and paddlefishes, and their products. Ideally this system should be suitable for (i) identification at the species-level of caviar and other products from Acipenseriformes, (ii) population identification, (iii) source identification (wild versus aquaculture), and (iv) determining the age of caviar because strict timeframes govern its international trade.

With the assistance of the German Government and the CITES Secretariat, the IUCN-SSC Sturgeon Specialist Group organized a workshop to discuss the identification of sturgeons and paddle fish in trade. The following paper results from the discussions at that workshop. It reviews the state of the art of techniques currently available and their potential used wit sturgeon species and their products.