Black gold- caviar hustling on the gulf

Looking into Abu Dhabi's illegal caviar-smuggling industry

‘We are unable to approve the export quotas for this year’ was the reason given by CITES spokesperson Juan Carlos Vaquez, for imposing a worldwide ban on the export of wild caviar. Although CITES (the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species) has been known to flex its muscle on the matter of illegal caviar trading in past years, up until now only brief trade embargoes have been imposed. Last time a crackdown was enforced on the trade in the UAE was in November 2001 when, after months of investigation, CITES found that much of the Dhs90 million of caviar which left the UAE was from unlawful origin. This time the suspension of the export of unfertilised sturgeon eggs looks set to last significantly longer. The only authentic imported Caspian caviar which will be legally available to roe-obsessive and social climbers worldwide will be tiny quantities produced by sturgeon farms.

The endangered sturgeon is a real-life aquatic dinosaur, which has been splashing about in reasonably abundant numbers in the cold waters of the Caspian sea for millions of years. Persistent over-fishing by generations of fishermen eager to sell on their catch to the caviar greedy epicures of the Western world has crippled the sturgeon population in the Caspian sea and left stocks of the prehistoric fish at an all time low.

Although the world of the caviar import/export business may appear to have a prestigious gloss, it is hard to find a single dealer or author or caviar expert who has not been linked with a scandal or scam. Tensions between former member states of the USSR and the world’s biggest single importer of the roe, the USA, have long given the caviar trade a mysterious and dangerous edge. A number of the most eminent caviar tzars in the USA have been prosecuted for using stooges to bring in millions of dirhams worth of the highly-prized roe in suitcases; this is an industry which has been rife with black market dealings for a number of decades. Europe also has a thriving illegal caviar business, with almost 12,000 kg (12 tons) of illegal caviar seized by European authorities during 2005, most originating in Iran and Russia.

The main exporting nations have repeatedly been urged (by wealthier nations) to take steps to protect the species, and although CITES have previously imposed export bans this one will not be lifted until the ‘countries wishing to export sturgeon products from shared stocks have amply demonstrated that their export quotas are sustainable’. And that includes making allowance for the amount of fish caught illegally.

There are a number of towns on the coat of the Caspian sea which have become notorious hubs of the illegal caviar trade. At Siyezen, halfway between the Azerbaijani Capital Baku, and the border with Daghestan the caviar is sold at almost half the official price with a kilo of unsalted caviar exchanging hands for about Dhs1,285. It’s not the fisherman who are making money out of this illegal enterprise however, it is the authorities. Both boat owners and dealers have to bribe the police. For many of the fishermen whose families livelihoods have been dependent on the caviar trade for generations, poaching is a way to make up for the restrictive quotas. The number of state-employed caviar fishermen who operate along Iran’s Caspian coastline has fallen by 50 per cent over the past ten years as a result of a government job-cutting scheme designed to tackle dwindling fish stocks and quiet the concerned voices of the international community who recognize the potential fate of the sturgeon as an environmental crisis.

Given Iran’s proximity to UAE and the thin channel of the Persian gulf which separates the two countries, it’ll come as no surprise that the ports of Abu Dhabi, Jebel Ali and Dubai have garnered a reputation as prime spots on the caviar laundering circuit. The UAE has long been home to a flourishing trade in protected animals and animal products, although the industry has come under close scrutiny since the 2001 ban. Since the lifting on the embargo in 2002 CITES units in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been making a concerted effort to halt caviar laundering in the area.

The luxury market in the UAE, although not as established as those in Europe and the US, nonetheless demands large quantities of the roe to supply many of Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s five-star hotels where the indisputable status of caviar holds particular kudos with aspirational guests. A raid in June of last year yielded a whopping Dhs35,000 worth of the black stuff which was being sold illegally in the capital’s supermarkets without CITES documentation. The free-trade ports of the country have long made both Abu Dhabi and Dubai hot-beds of activity for caviar launderers in the area. Occupying a crucial political and geographic position as one of the most stable countries between the Caspian sea and the Western world, it’s not surprising that so much of the illegal caviar which gets sold on to Europe and the States, makes a pit stop en route to its destination in the UAE. Demand for caviar has increased throughout the past century as rising living standards encourage changing lifestyle expectations. A sterling example of this egalitarian approach to caviar consumption is the opening of the Emperor’s Roe Gourmet Emporium in Harlem, one of New York’s most economically depressed neighbourhoods in an attempt to make luxury affordable. Bringing black gold to the masses, Mills’ shop proudly stocks tins of banned wild beluga roe, although the website does urge shoppers to get stocks while they can, acknowledging the effect that the ban is likely to have on availability of this commodity. America is the world’s biggest consumer of caviar and CITES officials believe that over 90 per cent of the caviar which is smuggled illegally through Abu Dhabi and Dubai is destined for the US.

Abu Rab, a scientist with the CITES outfit in Abu Dhabi explained that the problem faced by the UAE did not simply begin and end with caviar. ‘We are trying to educate the people in the country that certain goods cannot be traded freely. We are in the process of training customs officials to distinguish between different varieties of caviar by the texture and smell of the grains, but it cannot be done overnight’.

Although customs officials in the UAE are now being trained to identify the different grades of caviar by touch and scent, there have been no plans made as yet to train any animals in an effort to sniff out the smugglers. However, the fate of Russia’s first and only sniffer cat may deter customs officials from relying on the whiskers and feline nasal expertise; Rusik, an orphaned kitten was trained by his keepers, Stavropol policemen to sniff out the tell-tale stench of fish eggs. Ruski’s untimely end in a hit and run incident, has been blamed on disgruntled smugglers whose contraband goods were sniffed out and confiscated. Amusing anecdotes aside, the matter of preventing caviar smuggling through the UAE remains an issue. The effect in prices that the temporary trade ban will have is as yet unclear. As the illegal trade encompasses lone traders selling individual jars, to intricately organized smuggling outfits whose couriers bring in hundreds of suitcases pre-packed with black market roe – judging the amount of caviar passing through UAE ports is extremely difficult. And as long as a demand remains for caviar, the sturgeon will remain endangered.


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Caviar laid bare
Of the 24 species of sturgeon existing worldwide today, only three types supply caviar: the beluga, the oscetra, and the sevruga.
The beluga is the largest of the sturgeon family and averages four meters in length and weighs over 1,000kg. It is very rare, and only 120 or fewer fish are caught annually. The roe in a beluga sturgeon can equal 15 percent of its body weight, and varies in color from light grey to dark grey. The largest of the three types, beluga roe has fine, delicate skin, considerable texture, and a visible 'eye' in the middle of each egg or 'berry.'
The oscetra caviar is more common than beluga and comes from a medium sized sturgeon measuring two meters long and weighing up to 200kg. Oscetra roe ranges in colour from dark brown to gray. The roe have a unique taste of hazel nuts and a fine layer on the surface.
The sevruga is the smallest of the sturgeon family. Sevruga caviar have a fine surface and ranges in colour from ranges from light to dark grey. The roes are small and they are popular for their characteristic taste and smell. As the least rare of the three types of sturgeon and the least expensive of the three major types of caviar, the sevruga is also the most popular variety.
The sterlet is the rarest of the caviar sturgeon and was once extremely popular with the caviar-guzzling Russian tzars. Its small-grained golden roe was considered the very finest available. However, this variety of fish is now very close to extinction, and the sterlet sturgeon and sterlet caviar are almost never seen.


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History of caviar
The consumption of fish eggs is not a modern phenomenon. Roe have been salted and pickled and used as a handy source of sustenance during times of famine and war for several millennia.
The first written record of caviar was allegedly authored by Batu Khan (grandson of Ghengis Khan) in the 1240s.
Caviar did not become an internationally recognized delicacy until the latter part of the 1800s when the French started importing it from Russia.
Previous to the break up of the Soviet Union, the government of Russia held strict control on sturge on harvest limits and caviar production. The loss of spawning grounds prompted the development of sturgeon hatcheries on the Caspian to support the populations. Mature male and female sturgeon were caught in the wild and spawned in the hatchery to produce fingerlings for release. (All Beluga caviar and most of the Osetra and Sevruga caviar now comes from fish that were released from the hatcheries) Due to high pollution levels, most of the eggs in mature female sturgeon from the Caspian are non-fertile due to genetic malformation.
With the decimation of the Soviet Union the strict controls on sturgeon harvest and caviar production has been diminished. The new free states found that caviar was a rapid way to generate cash. With a distinct lack of heavy-handed law enforcement in the region, poaching is going uncontrolled and the caviar mafia has taken over much of the processing and distribution of the roe.
Iran has been able to maintain close control of the caviar industry on the southern end of the Caspian, but the recent ban on all wild caviar does not take this into consideration.
Commercial caviar production normally involves stunning the fish (usually with a club to the head) and extracting the ovaries, although a number of farmers are experimenting with surgical removal of the roe from live sturgeon, allowing the females to produce more eggs during their lifespans.
In a gesture which boslters the truth of Dwight Eisenhower's statement 'Some people want champagne and caviar when they should have beer and hot dog', decadent epicure Elton John is rumoured to have served up wild beluga caviar with chips at his birthday party last year.


By Michelle Madsen, April 2006 (Time Out)