Florida to cash in on farmed Caspian sturgeon caviar

Tor-Eddie Fossbakk It all began when Caspian sea sturgeon, which carries a much higher value than any other sturgeon, including their American relative due to the distinctly flavored eggs. The first Caspian sturgeons were introduced in Florida fish farms about six years ago. According to an article in Palm Beach Post, University of Florida fisheries and aquatic sciences Professor Frank Chapman has been instrumental in bringing the normally slow-to-mature fish to maturity several years earlier than they would in the wild. "They live in the Caspian Sea, Siberia. It's very cold and very harsh there, and it takes a long time, maybe 20 years, for them to reach maturity," Dr. Chapman told the newspaper. He formulated a new feed for the sturgeons consisting of a mixture of trout and salmon feed to increase growth rates. An international export ban was placed on major caviar-producing countries such as Russia, Romania and Iran last year because over-fishing has put all sturgeon species in danger of becoming extinct. There are 27 species of sturgeon. The three most popular foreign sturgeon are the beluga, osetra and sevruga. Some states in the US have strict regulations preventing them from introducing foreign fish species but fish farms in Florida are free to raise foreign sturgeon and began bringing in embryos and live fish from the Caspian Sea years ago. Chapman told the newspaper that Florida has three established sturgeon farms for harvesting roe and meat. And unlike the farming fads of raising ostrich and emu for their meat and oils, Florida caviar farmers said sturgeon roe is a guaranteed money-maker because the demand is there. "I believe we can be the center of the world for caviar," Chapman said. "But the race is on. A lot of people will be starting this now." Picture: Caspian sturgeon egg Caption: Starting life as a tiny, slimy bubble of an egg, a mature female Siberian sturgeon can produce $2,000 worth of caviar in one shot. The eggs are prized enough that the world's stock of these wild fish are at unprecedented levels of depletion. Mote Aquaculture Park is finding new ways to raise these fish and take the pressure off. Photo: Mote Marine Laboratory