Current Affairs 13 April 2021 – IAS Current Affairs
Current Affairs 13 April 2021 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :
- WWF report on Sturgeon poaching
WWF report on Sturgeon poaching
Why in News?
First market survey that quantifies the scale of the illegal trade of Sturgeon poaching for meat based on a report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
What is Sturgeon ?
- Sturgeon is a Fish Species that have existed since the time of dinosaurs for about 200 million years and now considered to be the most endangered species in the world.
- Also called as living fossils as their appearance do not changed more during the years.
- It has a life span of 100 years with a length of 8 metre.
- They are included in the CITES – Appendix-II
- IUCN Red List Status
- 63% of the 27 species of sturgeon, which includes Caspian Sea species, 5 of the 6 Danube River species – Critically Endangered
- Four species – Possibly Extinct
About the Report
Based on 145 sturgeon samples WWF reached the following reports
- 20% were wild-caught sturgeon and did not come from farms
- And 25 were meat samples and two were caviar.
- 12% of the samples were violated the regulations set by the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES).
- 14% were of caviar, were either illegally imported into the countries.
- Illegal sale of sturgeon found especially in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.
- Romania (82 cases), Bulgaria (82 cases) and Ukraine (50 cases)
What are the recommendations made by WWF ?
- Enhanced controls of domestic trade.
- Control of CITES caviar labelling requirements.
- Improved inter-agency cooperation and coordination.
- Increased border controls.
- Use of State-of-the-art forensic analysis.
- Conducting more and recurrent market surveys.
Source : Down To Earth
Under prelims Scope
GS III : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment