US-State of Georgia produces caviar

Back in September 2008 I posted an article about the sturgeon breeding programm at the University of Maryland.

But there are others. Last week news spread across the net regarding the University of Georgia and its sturgeon breeding programm. Their first caviar is ready for sale. According to Doug Peterson, associate professor of fisheries and aquaculture at UGA, the aim is to help protecting the wild sturgeon populations and maybe even create a lucrative commodity for the state.

Its quite interesting to know, that there are as many as 4 sturgeon species that are native to the state. But Petersons caviar comes from Siberian sturgeons only. And their habitat is – obviously – nowhere near the US.

Anyhow, Peterson has spent about eight years developing a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable method of farming. And with success, so it seems. According to Michel Emery, director of sales for Petrossian, the color and consistency were spot on. And “the flavor,” Emery added, “was impeccable.”

Their caviar can be found at Inland Seafood of Atlanta. The caviar costs $58 for 30 grams (just over 1 ounce) or $235 for 125 grams (about 4.4 ounces), said Bill Demmond, the chief operating officer.

A rather funny side note regarding their marketing: The product was given the slogan, “They have Gatorade … we have caviar,” in reference to the University of Florida, whose researchers invented the sports drink Gatorade.

More articles:

Fis.com

Ajc.com

End of poll 2: results

My latest poll that run on this blog for the last 5 months was: “Farmed caviar in times of economic crisis. What will happen?”

Well, lots of water went under the bridge. According to the international press, the economic crisis is facing its final (delicate) stage. Hopefully the job market does better than everybody is expecting, which would trigger more optimism around this issue. And after the expression ‘economic crisis’ became inflationary, people recently switched to ’swineflu’. All the better for the caviar industry.

But as its the case with all the polls, this one was rather subjective than objective and more importantly, it was of prophetic nature. So, are golden caviar days lying ahead of us? Or is the fun around the eggs doomed and will it become demonized?

Lets see. Here are the possible answers with the respective results:

Caviar price remains high or goes up – sector keeps growing: 11%

Caviar gets ‘cheaper’ – competition smaller: 14%

Caviar gets tag of ‘political incorrectness’. Free fall of demand and offer: 15%

The industry splits up into ‘premium farms’ ($$$) and ‘cheap farms’ ($): 60%

The obviously predominant prophecy is, that in the (near) future caviar producers around the world will split up into producers for the masses (= cheap caviar) and exclusive caviar producers with less annual production volume (= expensive caviar). With ‘less annual production volume’ I mean produers who target up to a max. of 10tons per year. Anything above I consider as a sturgeon breeding farm that cannot work and monitor each fish individually. Therefore loosing ‘control’ over the product and its quality. Such projects follow ‘the bigger the better’ mantra. Don’t get me wrong: size DOES matter. But this time its quite the oposite: the lesser the better!

Only time will tell if the ’splitting up’ becomes a new reality. I tend to say, that the first signs on the horizon (e.g. huge caviar production facilities in China, Italy, the Middle East, the US, etc.) confirm this possibility.

But then again: this would do good to the very few top producers who want nothing more than replacing the wild caviar with the better: premium farmed caviar!

Soon there will be the 3rd poll online. Stay tuned for more!

Baku, Azerbaijan – Worlds No. 1…

…when it comes to pollution.

I know that there are plenty of posts regarding the ‘bashing’ of wild caviar coming from the Caspian Sea. But as long as there are epicureans buying this kind of ‘black caviar’, the anti-campaign must go on. People must know, that the Caspian Sea is dying. That the sturgeons need all the protection they can get. And that the time for wild caviar is over.

Forbes.com published an article about the worlds dirtiest cities. According to the ranking made by Mercer Human Ressource Consultings back in 2007, Baku figures as the infamous number 1 of all the dirtiest cities on planet Earth. Ok, the ranking has its days. And the Chinese cities are missing on this list. Calcutta and other usual suspects too. But it would still be absolutely unobjectionable to say, that nothing good can come from the waters near Baku, Azerbaijan (Caspian Sea). Actually nowhere in or near the Caspian Sea.

The ranking is based on levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital services, medical supplies and the presence of infectious disease.

So, one should rethink if buying Caspian Caviar. Especially if  ’made in Baku’…!

Astrakhan police story

Just found an interesting article on the Ria Novosti site that I want to share with you…

“Police in Astrakhan, south Russia, have destroyed more than 300 kg (661 lbs) of illegal black caviar, the regional administration reported on Monday.

“Two thousand tins of black caviar were crushed by a bulldozer and buried at the city dump,” the administration said.

The caviar was seized in 2008 from an underground store, investigation officials said.

“An examination of the caviar indicated that although it was packed into branded tins with bright labels and considered ready for sale, it was a health risk,” the Department of Internal Affairs reported.

On July 1, police burnt more then 250 kg (551 lbs) of contraband black caviar worth more then 30 million rubles ($960,000). The caviar infected with staphylococcus bacteria was seized from Moscow shops during a special police operation.

In 2007 Russia banned the harvest and sale of black caviar which extended the 2002 ban on commercial sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea.

The Caspian Sea sturgeon, caught in five coastal states (Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran) accounts for almost 90% of the world’s black caviar. According to Russian experts, it will take at least 10 years to restore the sturgeon population in Russian waters.”

With the current ban on commercial sturgeon fishing, caviarists around the world should refrain from buying any caviar coming from the Caspian Sea. But thats not a downer, as there exist today quality wise very good (if not better) alternatives to the wild caviar coming from the Caspian Sea. And one recommendable option is surely ZwyerCaviar.

Hotel offers guided tours at sturgeon farm

The Barceló La Bombadilla Hotel in Andalusia, Spain, offers a unique tour to its guests. On a guided tour at the nearby sturgeon farm in Rio Frio they can get an insight into the secrets of caviar production. Included are the ultrasound checks regarding maturity of the roe and visits to the processing lab.

Even if I dislike the idea of converting sturgeon farms into a kind of Disneyland (call me paranoid, but industrial espionage exists), I welcome this idea. It helps to raise the public awareness behind this sophisticated art of breeding sturgeon and producing caviar. It has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘wild’ (easy) way. It is a highly knowledge-driven and sensitive endeavour which requires a lot of patience and critical decisions.

And everybody who willingly embarks on this journey receives my respect.