Testing the effectiveness of an international conservation agreement: marketplace forensics and CITES caviar trade regulation.

Phaedra Doukakis,Rob Desalle,Ellen K Pikitch,George Amato,Anna Rothschild,Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis,Dirk Steinke

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040907

Abstract

BackgroundThe international wildlife trade is a key threat to biodiversity. Temporal genetic marketplace monitoring can determine if wildlife trade regulation efforts such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are succeeding. Protected under CITES effective 1997, sturgeons and paddlefishes, the producers of black caviar, are flagship CITES species.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe test whether CITES has limited the amount of fraudulent black caviar reaching the marketplace. Using mitochondrial DNA-based methods, we compare mislabeling in caviar and meat purchased in the New York City area pre and post CITES listing. Our recent sampling of this market reveals a decrease in mislabeled caviar (2006–2008; 10%; n = 90) compared to pre-CITES implementation (1995–1996; 19%; n = 95). Mislabeled caviar was found only in online purchase (n = 49 online/41 retail).Conclusions/SignificanceStricter controls on importing and exporting as per CITES policies may be having a positive conservation effect by limiting the amount of fraudulent caviar reaching the marketplace. Sturgeons and paddlefishes remain a conservation priority, however, due to continued overfishing and habitat degradation. Other marine and aquatic species stand to benefit from the international trade regulation that can result from CITES listing.

Highlights

The lucrative international trade in wildlife is a key threat to global biodiversity [1,2,3]
As species threatened by trade may face overexploitation for domestic use and habitat degradation, the impact of international wildlife trade policy must consider more than trends in abundance or species status [4]
The control region (D-loop) was sequenced for samples from 32 lots, including ‘‘osetra’’ (n = 29) samples plus three samples with cytb sequences corresponding to A. baerii, A. gueldenstaedtii, A. naccarii, or A. persicus (Figure 3)

Summary

Introduction

The lucrative international trade in wildlife is a key threat to global biodiversity [1,2,3]. Trade policy effectiveness can be tracked through endpoint market monitoring, which can be useful in detecting illegally traded products [5]. Genetic applications facilitate identification of the species origin of marketplace products to determine if illegal products are present [5]. Genetic marketplace monitoring incorporating a temporal component [7] permits detection of changes in species presence over time thereby demonstrating policy effectiveness and dictating possible policy change. The international wildlife trade is a key threat to biodiversity. Temporal genetic marketplace monitoring can determine if wildlife trade regulation efforts such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are succeeding. Protected under CITES effective 1997, sturgeons and paddlefishes, the producers of black caviar, are flagship CITES species

Methods

Results

Conclusion