Other South American Sturgeon Projects (Argentina, Chile and Brazil)

In June 2022, a 500 g consignment of Chilean caviar went to Belgium after official inspection. SERNAPESCA records the exporter as Acuícola Alas, supplied by the La Casona farming centre at Parral. Small as the shipment was, it marks a concrete moment in South American caviar: a completed export to the European Union.

The wider picture is uneven. As of November 2026, Chile has four caviar facilities listed in the CITES register. Argentina has a documented farming operation whose production stopped in 2017. In Brazil, public research institutions have developed substitutes made from trout roe.

Country facts

Argentina

• Species documented: Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) in historical farming. ¹
• Farming region: Anillaco, La Rioja, historical operation.
• Export and import regime: Resolution 1468/2023 sets documentation requirements for aquatic organism introductions. ¹¹
• PGI or PDO: not publicly documented.
• Wild stocks: Russian sturgeon is officially classified as introduced; population establishment remains under investigation.
• Role: historical farming, with production discontinued in 2017 according to Argentina's aquaculture authority.
• Register and regulatory checks: November 2026.

Chile

• Species documented: white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in university farming; starry sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) in a 2019 authorised baseline study for planned trials.
• Locations documented: Parral, Maule; Peñaflor, Metropolitana; a university operation is also recorded.
• CITES register: As of November 2026, four facilities are listed, all for processing or repackaging and three as exporters. The displayed fields do not separate processing from repackaging counts. ⁶
• Export and import regime: SERNAPESCA certification, CITES controls and Supreme Decree 730/1995 for first introductions.
• PGI or PDO: not publicly documented.
• Role: documented farming, processing and export origin.
• Register and regulatory checks: November 2026.

Present output is not always known. The broader country guide separates producing origins from processing and consumer markets.

Argentina: the Anillaco chapter

Argentina's documented sturgeon enterprise at Anillaco began remodelling and expanding its facilities in 2010. The fisheries authority's history identifies Siberian sturgeon, names 2014 as the intended first caviar year, and records that production ended in 2017 because of internal company problems. It is a historical operation, rather than a verified current industry.

Argentina's scientific authorities report records from the Río de la Plata and Paraná system since 1999 and investigations into whether escaped fish could establish populations.

Another government overview reaches further back, recording the introduction of white sturgeon into La Rioja during the 1990s. The two accounts should not be combined into an assumed continuous, single-species production history.

Sturgeon have also appeared beyond the farm. Argentina's scientific authorities report records from the Río de la Plata and Paraná system since 1999 and investigations into whether escaped fish could establish populations. Those captures concern fish in the river system, not evidence of Argentine caviar production.

Chile: from farming to a completed export

Chile has moved beyond announcements and experiments. In its account of the Belgian shipment, SERNAPESCA calls the fish “ossetra” but gives no scientific species name.

Other official documents capture different stages of development. SUBPESCA's 2019 authorisation covers baseline sampling for planned starry sturgeon cohabitation trials at Peñaflor. Universidad de Los Lagos, meanwhile, records white sturgeon broodstock and a caviar project in its infrastructure report.

Four names appear in the CITES register: Acuícola Alas, Sociedad Esturiones Andes Chile, Universidad de Los Lagos and Inversiones Quetrihue. The displayed registration dates include 20 April 2021 for Alas, 28 August 2023 for the university and 6 October 2026 for Quetrihue. These date the registrations, not necessarily the start of farming.

Quetrihue is listed for processing or repackaging, but not as an exporter. The entries alone do not establish annual caviar output, species actually harvested or farm ownership.

Brazil: trout roe research, sturgeon production unconfirmed

Brazilian public research institutions have developed caviar substitutes from rainbow trout roe. Domestic sturgeon caviar production is not publicly documented.

Brazil also has an IBAMA licensing route for CITES trade. That route governs trade permissions; it does not establish domestic roe production. For reported international movements, the CITES Trade Database holds records submitted by Parties, searchable by importing country, species, product and year.

Project status at a glance

The documented stages distinguish historical proposals, introduction trials and completed exports.

EU listing changed in November 2026

Argentina, Chile and Brazil each have an X in the aquaculture “Finfish and finfish products” column of the current Annex IX. This establishes country-level scope for that product category, not permission for an individual establishment to ship caviar.

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2228, dated 14 October 2026, replaces Annex IX with a table distinguishing wild catch, aquaculture finfish and finfish products, and aquaculture crustaceans. The older Chile wording explicitly mentioning caviar, and Argentina wording referring only to finfish, no longer describe its presentation. Check country eligibility against the law now in force.

Individual establishments and consignments must also meet EU listing, certification, border control and wildlife trade requirements.

Introductions, environmental assessment and biosecurity

Permission to introduce fish is a practical starting point for any proposed farm. Argentina's Resolution 1468/2023 requires information on aquatic organism introductions and, for aquaculture, evidence of farmed origin and sanitary certification. Its documentation also includes provincial or municipal establishment authorisation. An overseas supplier's willingness to provide eggs is not an introduction permit.

Chile regulates first introductions under Supreme Decree 730/1995. For Piscicultura Peñaflor, a SEA decision on water reuse concluded that the described modification did not require mandatory entry into the environmental assessment system. The decision applies to that modification, not to sturgeon farms generally.

Brazil's IBAMA Portaria 145/1998 addresses introductions, reintroductions and transfers for aquaculture, explicitly recognising pathogen and biodiversity risks. Before stocking any proposed site, confirm the applicable introduction, environmental and sanitary permissions. General aquaculture registration should not be treated as authorisation for a particular non-native species.

Containment and disease control need separate attention. Secure barriers keep fish in; they do not establish freedom from pathogens. The Argentine investigations show why escape records matter. A project's biosecurity plan should cover practical containment, incoming-stock health checks and water management, with further detail in sturgeon diseases and farm biosecurity.

Keep living fish imports distinct from exports of processed roe in the project file. Identify the species, water supply, effluent destination, escape barriers, quarantine arrangements and responsible authority. Attach the actual decisions covering each activity. A research trial permit should not be described as approval for unrestricted commercial stocking.

Import checks for professional readers

Check the destination's rules before arranging a shipment. Switzerland, the UAE, China, Japan, Russia and Australia have differing requirements. Some personal effects exemptions cover 125 g of labelled caviar, subject to national conditions.

Origin: follow the label, then the records

Chilean-origin caviar should retain Chile as its country of origin on the CITES label, even when repacked abroad. Repacking details are separate. The label supplies traceability information; confirming the contents requires more than reading it.

For supplier checks, match the legal entity and facility to the CITES register, then request the relevant health approval, species identification and lot records. Claims about commercial output or market destinations call for dated production evidence or a reproducible CITES Trade Database extract. A registration entry records registration, not sales.

Where to go next

• Uruguayan Caviar: compare these records with Uruguay's separately documented industry.
• How to Start a Caviar Farm: understand the development stages behind a proposed operation.