CITES for aquaculture and seafood buyers: appendices, permits and open checks

Short answer: CITES controls international trade in listed species, farmed or wild, including their meat, roe, shells and other parts. Sturgeon caviar, European eel, seahorses, giant clams, queen conch, arowana and several sea cucumbers are listed; we did not find shrimp, tilapia, salmon, oysters or mussels in the current appendices. Check the species, its appendix and the permits before you compare offers.

Prepared by the FishMatch Group editorial team · official sources checked 23 October 2026 · English only · general orientation, not legal advice.

Which permits each appendix needs

These are the minimum documents under the Convention. A destination can require more, or ban the trade, under Article XIV.

CITES documents required for export and import by appendix
Appendix	Export side	Import side	Convention
Appendix I	Export permit from the exporting country (or a re-export certificate)	Import permit from the importing country, granted before the export permit and only if the specimen is not for primarily commercial purposes	Article III
Appendix II	Export permit from the exporting country (or a re-export certificate)	Presentation of the export permit or re-export certificate; no import permit under the Convention itself	Article IV
Appendix III	Export permit when exported from the country that listed the species; otherwise a certificate of origin	Certificate of origin, plus the export permit when the shipment comes from the listing country	Article V

Farmed stock: animals of an Appendix I species bred in captivity for commercial purposes are treated as Appendix II (Article VII(4)), and the exporting country's authority may issue a captive-breeding certificate in place of the usual permit (Article VII(5)).

Source: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — UN Treaty Series No. 14537, Vol. 993

Aquaculture and seafood species in the appendices

A selection of entries relevant to farmed and traded aquatic species, copied from the appendices valid from 5 March 2026. It is not the full list.

Selected aquatic species in CITES Appendices I, II and III valid from 5 March 2026
Group	Listed taxon	Appendix	Note
Sturgeons and paddlefish (caviar)	ACIPENSERIFORMES spp.	II	All species except the two in Appendix I
Sturgeons	Acipenser brevirostrum, Acipenser sturio	I
European eel	Anguilla anguilla	II
Arapaima	Arapaima gigas	II
Asian bonytongues (arowana)	Scleropages formosus, Scleropages inscriptus	I
Mekong giant catfish	Pangasianodon gigas	I	A single species; other Pangasianodon species are not in this entry
Totoaba	Totoaba macdonaldi	I
Humphead wrasse	Cheilinus undulatus	II
Seahorses	Hippocampus spp.	II
Giant clams	TRIDACNIDAE spp.	II
Queen conch	Strombus gigas	II
Teatfish sea cucumbers	Holothuria fuscogilva, Holothuria nobilis, Holothuria whitmaei	II
Teatfish sea cucumber	Holothuria lessoni	II	Entry into effect delayed until 5 June 2027
Sea cucumbers	Thelenota spp.	II
Brown sea cucumber	Isostichopus fuscus	III	Listed by Ecuador

Not found in these appendices: whiteleg shrimp and other penaeid shrimp (Penaeus, Litopenaeus); tilapia (Oreochromis); Atlantic salmon and trout (Salmo, Oncorhynchus); oysters (Crassostrea) and mussels (Mytilus). Other import rules still apply to them.

For sturgeon caviar labels, source codes and EU/US entry, see the wholesale caviar sourcing guide.

Sources: CITES Appendices I, II and III valid from 5 March 2026 — Tractatenblad 2026 No. 100 (Kingdom of the Netherlands) · CITES Secretariat — current Appendices (Official live list. Could not be opened from our checks on 23 October 2026; check it before relying on any listing)

Regulations still under review (5)

These items in our regulation register are marked "Regulatory review required": a current official source has not been fully verified for them. Until a person reviews them, related listings, promotion and supplier matching stay paused.

Sturgeon, caviar and other CITES-listed species
Regulatory review required before publication or a transaction
International trade in species listed by CITES needs CITES permits or certificates. Sturgeon, paddlefish and caviar may be covered, but we could not open the current CITES appendices on 22 October 2026, so we do not state their listing here. Regulatory review is required before publication or a transaction.
Authority: CITES Management Authorities of the exporting and importing countries
Update: the sturgeon listings in the table above come from the appendices valid from 5 March 2026, read on 23 October 2026. The register item stays under review until our team confirms it.
Partial official source on file · next review by 22 November 2026
Open this item in the regulation register
Fish feed and fishmeal into the EU
Regulatory review required before publication or a transaction
Feed and fishmeal follow feed and animal by-product rules that differ from rules for food. We have not yet verified the current official text for this register.
Authority: European Commission, DG SANTE; competent authorities of EU Member States
No official source verified yet · next review by 22 November 2026
Open this item in the regulation register
Israel: imports of fish, seafood, live aquatic animals and feed
Regulatory review required before publication or a transaction
Imports into Israel need approvals from the relevant Israeli authorities. We could not verify the current official requirements for this register.
Authority: Israeli Veterinary Services and Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture) and the Ministry of Health National Food Service — confirm
No official source verified yet · next review by 22 November 2026
Open this item in the regulation register
United Arab Emirates: imports of fish and seafood for food
Regulatory review required before publication or a transaction
Imports into the UAE need approvals from federal and emirate-level authorities. We could not verify the current official requirements for this register.
Authority: UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and emirate food authorities — confirm
No official source verified yet · next review by 22 November 2026
Open this item in the regulation register
China: imports of fishery and aquatic products
Regulatory review required before publication or a transaction
GACC's conformity-assessment guide for imported food states that the exporting country or region must have passed China's assessment of its food safety system, and that some products must appear in the catalogue of countries and products eligible for export to China. Declaration materials include the exporting country's official quarantine or health certificate. We could not verify the aquatic-product access list or the current overseas-manufacturer registration rules, so regulatory review is required.
Authority: General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)
Partial official source on file · next review by 22 November 2026
Open this item in the regulation register

What to include in a request for a CITES-listed product

Scientific name: Genus and species, not only a trade name — listings are by scientific name.
Appendix: Which appendix the species is in on the date of shipment, checked against the current CITES list.
Farmed or wild origin: Whether the stock was bred in captivity and what evidence the exporter's CITES authority accepts for that.
Exporter's permit: Whether the exporter can obtain a CITES export permit or re-export certificate for the quantity requested.
Destination's rules: Whether the importing country needs an import permit or other wildlife document in addition to CITES (Article XIV allows stricter rules).
Product form: Live animals, meat, roe, shells or other parts — parts and derivatives of listed animals are covered too.
Volume and value: Annual or seasonal programme and per-shipment quantity; FishMatch reviews programmes of USD 250,000 or more.

Send a seafood buying request Open the full regulation register

Our team checks the regulatory position of every request before any supplier is contacted.

Questions buyers ask

Does farmed product still need CITES documents?

Yes, if the species is listed. Farming does not remove a species from the appendices. Under Article VII, animals of an Appendix I species bred in captivity for commercial purposes are treated as Appendix II, and the exporting country's CITES authority may issue a captive-breeding certificate instead of the usual permit.

Are shrimp, tilapia or salmon listed in CITES?

We did not find whiteleg shrimp or other penaeid shrimp, tilapia, Atlantic salmon, trout, oysters or mussels in the appendices valid from 5 March 2026. Food-safety, veterinary and customs rules still apply, and listings can change.

Who issues CITES permits?

The CITES Management Authority of the exporting country issues export permits and re-export certificates; for Appendix I species the importing country's Management Authority issues the import permit. FishMatch Group does not issue, obtain or approve permits.

Why are some items marked 'Regulatory review required'?

We only state a requirement when we have read a current official source. Where we have not, the item is held for human review before it is published, promoted or matched with suppliers.

Sources

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — UN Treaty Series No. 14537, Vol. 993 — Articles III, IV, V, VII and XIV read on 23 October 2026
CITES Appendices I, II and III valid from 5 March 2026 — Tractatenblad 2026 No. 100 (Kingdom of the Netherlands) — Consolidated English text, issued 7 September 2026; read on 23 October 2026
CITES Secretariat — current Appendices — Official live list. Could not be opened from our checks on 23 October 2026; check it before relying on any listing