What is Caviar?
Caviar is the prepared roe, or eggs, of the acipenser, a fish found in the Caspian and Black Seas, and the Girond River in France. At one time, the acipenser could be found in many European rivers, and even in some North American lakes; but since the onset of the industrial age the fish’s habitat has been reduced to portions of
Caviar is an expensive delicacy consisting of the unfertilized eggs (roe) of sturgeon brined with a salt solution. Classic caviar comes primarily from Iran or Russia, harvested by commercial fishermen working in the Caspian Sea. A specific species of sturgeon called beluga provide what many consider to be the best caviar in the world. A female sturgeon’s roe supply may constitute as much as 25% of her total body weight. Considering that mature sturgeons can weigh 300 pounds, each one can provide a substantial amount of caviar over a lifetime. In recent years, however, a combination of natural and man-made problems have seriously threatened the future of Caspian Sea caviar harvesting. Beluga sturgeon populations have been declining at an alarming rate. Other species of sturgeon and fish have become increasingly popular alternatives to Russian and Iranian caviar. In the early 19th century, the United States was actually the world’s leading producer of caviar, mainly due to the abundance
Simply put, caviar is any single salted fish roe or egg. In the United States, as long as the species of the fish precedes the word “caviar”, it is considered caviar. TRUE caviar comes from the icy waters of the Caspian Sea where the environment is most conducive to producing the finest sturgeon. Ninety percent of the caviar produced in the world comes from the Caspian Sea. Sturgeons have an unerring survival instinct. These bottom-dwellers with their sensitive barbels and pouted snouts have existed for millennia. Even to this day, relatives of the sturgeon live in the black depths of the ocean, in subterranean watercourses, even in hot springs. Sturgeons are scaleless except for five rows of large, pointed, platelike scales running along the top and sides of the body. Their exoskeleton is part bone and part cartilage, placing them midway between sharks and bony fish. They can live for 100 years, and reach maturity between 12 and 20 years of age. Sturgeons are anadromous, living as adu
Caviar is the eggs (or roe) taken from female sturgeon, a “fossil” fish found in coastal waters, rivers and lakes of the Northern Hemisphere. 2. Where does caviar come from? Most of the world’s caviar comes from sturgeon of the Caspian Sea, an inland sea located between Russia and Iran. Three species of sturgeon produce most of the world’s caviar: beluga sturgeon produces beluga caviar; Russian sturgeon produces osetra caviar and stellate sturgeon produces sevruga caviar. 3. What is the goal of the Caviar Emptor program? The goal of the program is to promote recovery of wild sturgeon, fish that supply the world with black caviar, and increase consumer awareness of the problems facing sturgeon and other fish. 4. Why focus on such an elite product? Caspian Sea sturgeon are emblematic of the major problems facing fish worldwide – overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution. In this instance, overfishing is fueled largely by the market for Caspian caviar, a luxury product for which the
