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For Sergei, the explanation is simple. “Ten years ago, there were two
poachers in my village of some 350 people. Now it’s a rare thing not to
be a poacher. Collective farms and factories are closed, and people must
make a living,” he says. However, besides the “social poaching” mostly
tolerated by the state because of rampant unemployment, “commercial
poaching” also takes its toll on the sturgeon resources. It was
that underground industry that President Vladimir Putin labelled as
“monstrous” during his recent visit to the region. This kind of
poacher generally has a high-speed motor boat, sonar detectors and
even special buoys that allow them to keep track of their nets with
satellite positioning technology.
“How are we supposed to catch them?” asks Yury Tolstov of the public
agency tasked with taking care of the sturgeon population in the
Volga delta. “They have Yamaha and Johnson motor boats, each with at
least 100 horsepower. We have only one boat,” he complains. However,
small-scale poachers have a more cynical explanation, saying that
the illegal caviar industry is well protected by accomplices in high
places and has efficient export routes.
Officials are nevertheless cautiously optimistic as to the final outcome
of their losing battle. The sturgeon population increased last year and
the endangered fish was once again seen near cities such as Volgograd,
Tolstov assured us. In addition, Tolstov’s agency has released 50m baby
sturgeon bred in captivity, and plans an operation to pave the way for
sturgeons attempting to move up river in May. He takes particular pride
in a novel technique which would allow roe to be removed from female
fish without killing them and used to breed more sturgeons rather than
delighting gourmet diners in New York or Tokyo.
Tolstov’s quarrel is with a CITES-brokered moratorium on fishing Beluga
sturgeon passed last June by Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and
Azerbaijan, but lifted in March after eight months. “This will benefit
only poachers,” he scoffed. In any case, poaching – which, according to
CITES, accounts for 90% of the caviar trade – has not slackened since,
and caviar is on sale in Astrakhan markets for some $80 a kilogram,
twice the price asked in the delta’s many villages, but still half as
much as in downtown supermarkets.
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