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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 162 / Wednesday, August 25, 2021 / Proposed Rules
reported to CITES, indicating that no wild-caught Amur sturgeon can be legally traded internationally until quotas are reestablished. This is in line with the existing bans on commercial fishing in Russia and China. Still, some wild-sourced caviar is very likely traded internationally using fraudulent labels or without reporting UNEPWCMC
2012, pp. 22. The sale of caviar and meat with mislabeled origin, species, or both makes enforcement difficult Harris and Shiraishi 2018, Table 9 and it is very challenging for enforcement officials to confidently differentiate wild from captive-bred caviar e.g., DePeters et al. 2013, pp. 130131; Czesny et al.
2000, pp. 147148. Domestic sale of caviar including in the United States, China, and Russia is not subject to CITES labeling requirements, likely facilitating trade in wild-sourced products Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p.
54; Vaisman & Fomenko 2006, p. 20. In addition, legitimate CITES labels and containers are resold for use in concealing transport of illegal caviar van Uhm and Siegel 2016, p. 81.
Following the inclusion of the Amur sturgeon in CITES Appendix II in 1998, there was a notable increase in illegal Russia-to-China transport of caviar and meat Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 24. Fertilized eggs were also confiscated in transit from Russia to China and very likely destined for use in aquaculture Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p. 40; Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 24.
The Amur River was identified in 2018 as one of the most concerning regions for sturgeon poaching globally Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p. 12 and an estimated 95 percent of spawning Amur sturgeon are harvested annually Simonov and Dahmer 2008, p. 47; note:
This is 95 percent of the approximately one quarter of all adults that spawn annually, not of all adults in the population. Illegal sturgeon harvesting has been widespread, intense, and sometimes sophisticated, with up to 750
metric tons mt 830 U.S. tons t of Amur sturgeon harvested illegally Erickson et al. 2007, p. 31 and up to 1,000 poachers detained in Russia annually all sturgeon species, not just Amur sturgeon; Vladivostok News, June 24, 2003. Organized and sometimes violent crime units control the harvest of Amur sturgeon in Russia, especially in the vicinity of Khabarovsk Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 19; Krykhtin and Svirskii 1997, p. 237, and fishing impacts have been especially intense on the Middle Amur spawning grounds Krykhtin and Svirskii 1997, p. 237. As a result, the species became markedly
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less common in the early 2000s Vaisman and Fomenko, 2006, p. 16.
Although the caviar resulting from test fishing was legal for sale in Russia, between 90 and 100 percent of domestically sold Amur sturgeon was believed to be illegally caught in recent years Harris and Shiraishi 2018 p. 33;
Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 22.
Nearly every market stall in the city of Khaborosk sold illegally sourced caviar, and one could place an advance order for up to several metric tons of sturgeon meat potentially several hundred smaller fish Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 20. In 2018, Khabarovsk residents indicated that sturgeon products remained easy to find on the black market Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p. 40. Russian law does not provide for punishments strong enough to deter poaching Musing et al. 2019, p. 20;
Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p. 40;
Erickson et al. 2007, p. 30; Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 18, most arrests led to dismissal of the case before prosecution due to a pardon or the expression of remorse by defendants Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 17, and Russia remains the largest consumer of Amur sturgeon Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, pp. ivvii.
Illegal international trade in Amur sturgeon products adds to the threat faced by the species. About 8 percent of 17 mt 19 t of Amur sturgeon caviar arriving in the United States between 2000 and 2019 was determined to be illegal and was seized before import CARS 2020, not paginated; CITES and UNEPWCMC 2019. However, because of the very nature of illegal trade, its volume cannot be fully captured by the available data. Nonetheless, the United States has been the largest importer of sturgeon and sturgeon products all Acipenser species since 1998 Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p. 26; UNEPWCMC
2012, p. 22. At least through the mid2000s, illegal import of sturgeon products to the United States was common among major caviar retailers Wyler and Sheikh 2013, p. 10; Service 2005, p. 7. Most seized caviar was confiscated because of violations of CITES requirements e.g., incorrect label design, missing information, or misidentified species, and some purportedly captive-sourced caviar is likely wild-sourced product misrepresented as of farmed origin Irving 2021, pers. comm..
Nearly 3.8 mt 4.2 t of Amur sturgeon caviar were imported into the European Union between 1998 and 2006 UNEP
WCMC 2008, p. 31, representing 19
percent of the total reported exports from China and Russia Engler and Knapp 2008, table 3. Between 2007 and
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2015, Belgium alone imported almost 3
mt 3.3 t of Amur sturgeonmostly as caviarand over 14.5 mt 15.9 t of kaluga-Amur sturgeon hybrid products Musing et al. 2018, p. 37. Most French vendors said that wild-sourced caviar is no longer available, although one said it could be obtained on the black market Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p. 45.
A growing trade in sturgeoncontaining cosmetics has opened newer markets, especially in Japan Harris and Shiraish 2018, p. 68, where poached Amur sturgeon products were reported to be continuously available in the mid2000s Vaisman and Fomenko 2006, p. 23 and where illegal sturgeoncontaining cosmetics were seized in large volumes in 2016 Harris and Shiraishi 2018, p. 59.
In summary, there is abundant evidence that heavy fishing pressure has for several decades put severe strain on Amur sturgeon populations. The blackmarket trade and the laundering of wildcaught fish and caviar into the legal market for captive-bred products has continued to negatively affect the species in the wild despite the CITES
requirements for international trade in Amur sturgeon. More detail on the harvest and trade of the Amur sturgeon is available in the SSA report.
Dams The main stem of the Amur River remains one of the largest undammed rivers in the world GRanD 2019, not paginated; Lehner et al. 2011, pp. 494
502; Simonov and Dahmer 2008, p.
185, but repeated proposals to build dams there have occurred for at least 70
years Simonov and Markina 2010, not paginated. The construction of dams blocks migration routes between Amur sturgeon feeding grounds downstream and spawning grounds upstream; in several major tributaries of the Amur, this has stopped reproduction Zhuang et al. 2016, p. 66; Wu et al. 2015, pp.
839842; Gessner et al. 2010, not paginated. Dams can also increase sediment and pollution concentrations, limiting sunlight that benefits egg development and reducing the adhesion of eggs to the substrate Li et al. 2012, p. 557.
The Russian state hydrological plan for the Amur region does not include development of hydropower dams on the rivers main stem, and little regional demand exists for additional electrical capacity on the Russian side of the river Simonov 2016, not paginated.
However, proposals still exist for as many as 13 dams on the Amur River or the Shilka River, its source Simonov et al. 2019, figure 2.

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