Fighting to save the fabled Caspian sturgeon from extinction
After decades under the Soviets, Azerbaijan’s agriculture sector blooms again

During the half century of intense ideological competition engendered by the Cold War, there was one issue that both red carpet capitalists and fur-capped Politburo communists could always agree on: the world’s finest caviar came from the Caspian Sea. And among the Soviet socialist republics which ringed the Caspian, it was agreed too, that the best caviar came from Azerbaijan.

Alas, those days are nearly over. Because caviar was a major source of scarce foreign exchange for the USSR for many decades, severe over-fishing was the eventual result.

But even after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, the four successor states with shorelines along the Caspian continued to exploit its waters for caviar. Sadly, the famous Beluga and Sveruga sturgeon – the ancient fish whose roe is called "caviar" -- is now a species on the virtual edge of extinction. Further complicating this matter is the fact that sturgeons live five years, or more, before reaching sexual maturity, and this slows their natural reproduction rate.

Finally, however, the Caspian nations realized that without a collective and long term course of action, the sturgeon will disappear forever, leading to widespread unemployment for all involved, and loss of the traditional foreign exchange earned by the exalted fish eggs. In 1999, four of the five Caspian nations (Iran did not join) signed an agreement under the auspices of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) in Geneva to try and save the sturgeon.

Perhaps it is curious, when considering how imperiled the Caspian sturgeon is, that Azerbaijan should invest millions of dollars to build a state-of-the-art fish processing plant that was originally conceived to process caviar and sturgeon. Today, however, the Caspian Fish Company finds itself at the center of an ambitious effort by the Azerbaijan government to save the sturgeon, and at the same time expand into new related areas such as fish farming, for which Azerbaijan is ideally suited. And the company is seeking American partners in particular.

"Under the CITES agreement," General Director Tahir Kerimov explains, "the Caspian Fish Company is the only Azerbaijan company authorized to sell caviar abroad. Every year, CITES surveys each of the four countries, asking for data on the sturgeon population in their territorial waters, spawning data from the rivers where the sturgeon spawn, and how much caviar was sold legally during the past year. CITES officials then combine the data from all four countries, and assign each country a specific fixed quota for caviar for the coming year. In 2001, our quota is seven percent lower than last year.

"Of course, poaching is a serious problem among the four countries," Kerimov acknowledges. "To a poor fisherman, a sturgeon full of caviar is still a rich prize. But here in Azerbaijan, the President and the government have ordered a crackdown. "

Today the Caspian Fish Company works within its CITES quota, processing caviar, filleted, dried and smoked sturgeon, fish oil, and fish meal which enjoys a ready market as animal feed.

"Absolutely nothing is wasted," Kerimov insists. Caspian Fish Company’s physical plant and modern equipment are impressive. "We can process 300 tons of fish per day," Kerimov says proudly, "Not even Western Europe has a factory that can match this one."

Caspian Fish Company recently sold three tons of caviar to Europe, fulfilling its SITES quota for 2001. According to company officials, the current export prices average $515 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) and $1,000 per kilogram if packed in small jars. Beluga caviar, however, is priced at $750 per kilogram, and Sveruga is $550 per kilogram. By way of comparison, a well-heeled traveler browsing the duty free shops in London’s Heathrow airport would find Russian and Iranian caviar sold for about $400 for a 125-gram jar.

The company has plans to invest several million dollars in new fish processing plants along the coast. But company personnel continue to focus on plans to build a new sturgeon spawning facility that would yield some 50 million hybrid sturgeon fingerlings every year. If similar facilities can be built in other Caspian countries, there is hope that the sturgeon population can eventually stabilize, and one day even rebound to its former numbers.

With sturgeon and caviar exports severely limited, the enterprising company directors are turning their attention to other sources of fish processing revenue. One source that interests Kerimov is the catching and processing of the extremely large crayfish -- the size of lobsters – that thrive in the mouths of rivers at the Caspian Sea. The company is researching now how to harvest these crayfish on a commercially sustainable basis.

Kerimov is also excited by the potential in fish farming. "We think there is excellent potential here, but we have to do the research. We know there are American companies with long experience in fish farming. And we are looking for partners like these, who can offer us favorable credit terms.

"At the same time," he says with a smile, "we are seeking American customers. We offer a full range of packaged fish products that meet the highest international export standards. Our plant has the most modern equipment, and we maintain extremely high standards of hygiene. But we need serious partners, not mere intermediaries."