Back to Volume 8
	Beluga on the Brink By David Katzive

On the surface, the assignment felt like a shoot for National Geographic or Discovery Times. We flew to Moscow, met up with translators and representatives from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and traveled the length of the Volga River to show how sturgeon are caught and officially replenished, how caviar is harvested and processed and, most importantly, to capture on video the conditions that have resulted in the precipitous decline of the largest of these fish, the beluga sturgeon. The footage was then edited as a resource reel for journalists investigating this complex story.

Our primary client was SeaWeb, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that describes its mission as “raising awareness of threats to marine life with the goal of affecting behavioral change among seafood consumers and creating a climate for stronger ocean conservation policy.”

Along the way we learned amazing things about this 250-million-year-old fish, became an eyewitness and believer in its plight, and were ultimately invited by our client to be a lead plaintiff in their lawsuit against the federal government. Our role had shifted from being an observer to an active participant in the story.

The project began with a simple press event at Oceana, a fine seafood restaurant in midtown Manhattan. We were asked to get sound bites from the restaurant’s chef at the time, Rick Moonen, because he was one of more than 300 American chefs who were willing to take a stand condemning the use of Caspian Sea caviars when equally tasty American farm-raised caviar is available. We taped the scene of reporters filling Oceana for a caviar tasting, one part of SeaWeb’s ongoing program to call attention to the near extinction of beluga sturgeon and to alternative forms of caviar. Equally important, their program, called Caviar Emptor, took an even more aggressive step to save the beluga by petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list it as an endangered species. Two partners were enlisted to be part of this effort, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The WCS provided scientific credentials, the NRDC legal and procedural expertise.

Spokespeople from all three organizations came to the Ruder·Finn second-floor studios, where we taped comments from them in different settings: a science library environment for the WCS marine ecologist; a generic sky-blue background for the NRDC policy analyst; and a talk show set for the CEO of SeaWeb. All of this was edited into a general b-roll as a resource for broadcasters. It was also a prelude to our trip to Russia three months later, at the opening of the fishing season, where we would see for ourselves what was happening to beluga sturgeon.

Arriving in Moscow we were met by a bi-lingual representative of the Academy of Science and a freelance reporter who had written on the topic of sturgeon overfishing for both the Moscow Times and the New York Times. Traveling together, our first stop was Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad). While our mission was to see the massive hydroelectric dam on the Volga, the spawning grounds, and the sturgeon hatcheries, it was impossible not to be haunted by the ghosts of World War II and the knowledge that millions of lives had been lost in the relentless siege of this city. Battlefield artifacts were on display in the hotel lobby, a mammoth golden memorial looms over the city, and tourists at breakfast were described to us as Germans coming to look at the battle ground site in search of evidence of relatives who perished nearly 60 years ago.

On this first official day of our visit, we saw the dam that in effect blocked off the spawning grounds for the beluga. The engineers had built an elevator to lift the fish during their runs upstream but we were told it was ineffective. Local officials were proud to show us how they are breeding sturgeon in holding tanks inside and near the dam, how they patrol the river for poachers, and plans they have to recreate spawning grounds on the downstream side of the dam. At another location we were shown how new sturgeon are bred in vitro by harvesting the roe and sperm, mixing them in special vats, and creating millions of new tiny fish. We saw one-day-old sturgeon (they look like tadpoles) and were told that only a tiny percent actually survive. Even on this first day, we were capturing footage that indicated the severity of the problem. The manager of one facility told us that they were no longer able to capture female beluga this far up the river.

The stories kept piling up, and as we arrived downriver an Astrakhan, we got a much clearer picture of the scope of the problem. In most of the world, the black caviar from beluga sturgeon has the reputation of being the finest and traveled the length of the Volga River to show how sturgeon are caught and officially replenished, how caviar is harvested and processed and, most importantly, to capture on video the conditions that have resulted in the precipitous decline of the largest of these fish, the beluga sturgeon. The footage was then edited as a resource reel for journalists investigating this complex story.

Our primary client was SeaWeb, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that describes its mission as “raising awareness of threats to marine life with the goal of affecting behavioral change among seafood consumers and creating a climate for stronger ocean conservation policy.” Along the way we learned amazing things about this 250-million-year-old fish, became an eyewitness and believer in its plight, and were ultimately invited by our client to be a lead plaintiff in their lawsuit against the federal government. Our role had shifted from being an observer to an active participant in the story.

The project began with a simple press event at Oceana, a fine seafood restaurant in midtown Manhattan. We were asked to get sound bites from the restaurant’s chef at the time, Rick Moonen, because he was one of more than 300 American chefs who were willing to take a stand condemning the use of Caspian Sea caviars when equally tasty American farm-raised caviar is available. We taped the scene of reporters filling Oceana for a caviar tasting, one part of SeaWeb’s ongoing program to call attention to the near extinction of beluga sturgeon and to alternative forms of caviar. Equally important, their program, called Caviar Emptor, took an even more aggressive step to save the beluga by petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list it as an endangered species. Two partners were enlisted to be part of this effort, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The WCS provided scientific credentials, the NRDC legal and procedural expertise. Spokespeople from all three organizations came to the Ruder·Finn second-floor studios, where we taped comments from them in different settings: a science library environment for the WCS marine ecologist; a generic sky-blue background for the NRDC Moscow, met up with translators and representatives from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and most exquisite tasting of all the caviars. It is a delicacy that has become more and more expensive not only because of the high demand but also because it is increasingly difficult to find. The current price is $120 an ounce in New York City.

To understand the impact of this pricing, consider the following. A mature female beluga sturgeon can easily weigh 300 pounds. Since ten percent of the body weight of a pregnant female is roe (caviar), the retail value of such a fish is nearly $60,000. One fish! And some have been caught that weigh more than ten times that amount. In the Museum of Natural History in Astrakhan, we saw a two-ton beluga in the taxidermist’s shop that was more than 20 feet long. The fish was so huge the preparator had to make its fins detachable so it would fit through the door. This extraordinary profit potential has made overfishing and poaching the chief cause of the near extermination of beluga sturgeon. The problem has been compounded by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the difficulty of patroling a body of water as large as the Caspian Sea.

From Astrakhan we were able to make visits to official fishing sites called “tonyas” where teams of fishermen were using drift nets to sweep vast stretches of the river. At one site, we saw one small sturgeon being caught and the captain of the crew told us he had not seen a beluga in a year. He vigorously told us that he thought there should be a five-year moratorium on catching beluga, a sound bite that plays prominently in the final edit of the b-roll. At another tonya at the edge of the Caspian Sea, we saw many more sturgeon being caught but no beluga. When the fisherman realized we were taking pictures, we were rapidly escorted away, even though it was a legal, licensed operation. The local official who brought us to the site (we could not show his face or give his name) explained that even though they were honest fishermen, they did not want any record of the number of fish being caught. The reason, he explained, was that “the honest fisherman will only steal three out of ten fish. The dishonest one will take nine.” Later on he dryly showed us the home of the local official who approved fishing permits. It was enormous, surrounded by high protective walls.

Near the end of our visit, in the middle of a bio-preserve, we turned our cameras on the WCS scientist who told us that she hadn’t seen a single beluga except for those being raised in the hatcheries.

One of the reasons we were able to get significant sound bites was the innocuous nature of the two cameras we brought on the assignment. Both were small format Sony digital cameras. We looked like tourists. Our Macintosh powerbook with Final Cut Pro also served as a playback and edit system and we were able to edit all that we shot during the long plane ride back to the U.S. The entire production package fit into a hotel wall safe.

In the final b-roll package, the first 45 seconds show a mix of Russian and Kazahk fisherman, sturgeon being hauled out of the water, a sound bite in Russian with English voice over (about no beluga being found) and then almost 20 minutes of unedited segments including the earlier comments from the chef and SeaWeb spokespeople. Since one of the most important features of b-roll and video news release productions is providing footage it would be hard for local stations to get on their own, we knew we had a very strong package for our client’s story. Equally important, we had established ourselves as passionately committed to their mission, willing to go beyond normal expectations to get the desired results. Even before the release of the Russian footage, we were asked to do a separate story tied into a cover story for Nature Magazine.

While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was pondering the beluga decision, we edited and distributed a story for SeaWeb and Dalhousie University about the startling drop in populations of large fish (tuna, sharks, swordfish and cod) in the world’s oceans.

With the assistance of staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium we put together a package for global distribution. It was the first time we’ve seen a story distributed nationally in China (more than four million viewers), perhaps because it indirectly criticized the Japanese longline fishing practices. While this was going on, SeaWeb asked us to send preview copies of the b-roll and the VNR to reporters at the BBC, CNN, and various local stations around the country. Print journalists were also sent vhs copies to assist with their research on stories about beluga.

The critical date for all of the beluga research and effort was January 31st of 2004. This was the date the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was required by law to make its decision on the listing status of beluga sturgeon. In anticipation of this announcement, we worked with SeaWeb to make four versions of a 90-second video news release. Each had a different scenario and all were prepared and ready for national distribution on the day of the decision. The scenarios were: no listing with no ban on beluga sturgeon at all; full listing as endangered with full ban on importation; listing as a threatened species with a full ban on importation; listing as threatened with partial restrictions. The date came and went and nothing happened. After a month, I was called and asked:

"We'd like you to consider being a lead plaintiff in our lawsuit against the federal government.

"What is that about" I asked.

"We are simply applying pressure to the government to do what they are legally
required to do. If they are not going to render a decision we can force them to
make a decision and make it public."

"Why would you want me?" I asked.

"Because you have become an expert and can provide eyewitness testimony if necessary," they said.

Before replying to my client it seemed apparent that I had an issue to review with the Ruder·Finn ethics committee. I could potentially be in a position where a Ruder·Finn employee was suing the U.S. Government. I had been to Russia on behalf of a Ruder·Finn client at their expense. And our work with the department of Homeland Security (Ready.gov) and the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA were far more important than Caviar Emptor. The advice to me was: if you feel strongly about this and you do it as an individual, it is your right and prerogative. There is no conflict and you should proceed.

The paperwork was set in motion and the FWS was notified that legal proceedings were in the works. But the week before the legal papers were to be served, a teleconference was set by the FWS the week of April 19, 2004, to announce their decision on listing beluga sturgeon. We once again prepared the media alerts and the video news release for national distribution, waiting to hear what language would be used. The actual listing however, turned out to be “threatened” with no restrictions and no action to be taken until a period of six month passed. If no rules or exceptions are approved by that time, then a full ban on importation will go into effect. The elusive good news-bad news nature of the announcement had us once again postpone the release of the video until a definite status is established.

The story has quickly crossed over into the popular media. On May 3rd, 2004 on the Tonight Show, Jay Leno included the following comments in his opening monologue: 

"And here is some very upsetting news: we may be facing a shortage of beluga
caviar. The government is calling the beluga sturgeon a "threatened species."
I just hope it doesn't make beluga caviar too expensive for the average
consumer. I'd hate to see Joe Sixpack watching the game saying: 'Hey, Where's my CAVIAR?' You know, you hate to see that happen."

More significant than the penetration of the story into popular media is the measurable drop in the consumption of beluga caviar in the United States. According to SeaWeb, “U.S. imports are down from 15 tons in 2000 and 2001 to 6.5 tons in 2002 and only 3 tons reported to date (Fall, 2003). In comparison, an American caviar farm sold 6 tons in 2003, marking the first time a domestic producer outsold beluga caviar. In addition to Petrossian, popular NYC gourmet food stores Zabar’s and Fairway and national chain Whole Foods are among those now offering American caviars.”

The efforts of SeaWeb, Caviar Emptor and another PR team (Fenton Communications), combined with our video productions, have earned a Silver Anvil Finalist award in the 2004 annual competition. Our involvement has also led to additional production work with the James Beard Foundation and their annual awards ceremony (restaurants and chefs), StarChefs.com (video for their website), the AppleCare Foundation (programs on healthy eating), the University of Miami and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Lastly, the 11th hour announcement by the Fish and Wildlife Service to list beluga as “threatened” made the implementation of the lawsuit unnecessary. The procedure had achieved the desired result of forcing the agency to do what they had always been legally required to do. We continue to work on diverse programs with this client, including creation of streaming video for their website.