Paddlefish Exports and Caviar Quotas Update
Contrary to recent news reports, exports of North American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) have not been banned or "frozen" and are not subject to any national, regional, international or intergovernmental quotas. The CITES Secretariat has not posted quotas for Caspian Sea caviar, or intergovernmental quotas for species shared between different range States. This has apparently caused confusion regarding the status of U.S. paddlefish exports. Paddlefish are endemic to the United States and are therefore not subject to intergovernmental quotas, or any other quotas. Procedures and policies for exporting U.S. paddlefish remain unchanged.
The United States typically provides
the CITES Secretariat with voluntary export quotas for wild-caught specimens
of the four sturgeon species we share with Canada (white sturgeon, Acipenser
transmontanus; green sturgeon, A. medirostris; lake sturgeon, A. fulvescens;
and Atlantic sturgeon, A. oxyrinchus). However, because we have not exported
wild-caught specimens of these species in recent years and because of the
burden that has been established for setting these quotas, we do not see the
need to continue quota submissions at this time. This does not preclude submission
of quotas in the future, should the need arise.
Links
of Interest:
International Affairs
CITES Secretariat
