Caviar
The Strange
History &
Uncertain Future
of the World’s
Most Coveted
Delicacy
Osetra
Beluga
Sevruga
A. stellatus
Huso huso
A. gueldenstaedtii
Acipenseridae Overview
• 24 species within 4 genera worldwide
Huso – 2 species - Eurasia
Pseudoscaphirhynchus – 3 species – Aral Sea
Acipenser – 16 species – Eurasia & North America
Scaphirhynchus - 3 species – Miss. and Mobile rivers
• 8 species in North America – shortnose, Atlantic, lake, white,
green, pallid, shovelnose, & Alabama
• All species have depleted populations due to dam
construction, habitat alteration, pollution, and over-harvest
however, shovelnose populations are most stable
Caviar History
• 1240 – Batu Kahn eats caviar in Orthodox Christian monastery
• 1280 – Orthodox Christian church approves caviar for fasting
• Late 1400’s – heavily salted caviar shipped to Italy, Italian
proverb “whoever eateth cavialies, eateth salt, dung, and flies”
• 1500’s – King Edward II of England proclaims all sturgeon
caught were to be turned over to him
• 1600’s – two shiploads per year to Venetian merchants
• 1682 – Peter the Great encouraged exports – however spoilage
• Early 1700’s – caviar same price as butter in St. Petersburg
Caviar History
• 1760’s – Catherine the Great controlled export closely, caviar
firmly associated with Russian aristocrats
• 1780’s – Ioannis Varvarkis revolutionized caviar trade with
linden tree barrels for caviar, employed 3000 in Astrakhan
• Early 1800’s – Industrial Revolution creates new wealth in
Europe and a taste for exotic treats such as caviar
• Mid 1800’s – Europeans frustrated with Russian control of
supply, Europeans begin to look elsewhere for caviar
• 1917 – Bolshevik Revolution, communists take control of
caviar industry
• Late 1980’s – collapse of Soviet Union
American Caviar History
• 1849 – Kennebec River, ME - 160 tons
harvested, meat & oil sales good but
caviar given away at saloons to increase
beer sales
• 1870’s – Delaware River, NJ - caviar
shipped by barrel to Germany
• 1880’s – Caviar, NJ - supplies most of
world’s caviar
• 1900 – 33rd anniversary of American
caviar industry, but over-harvest and
pollution have wiped out resource
• 1901 – California bans white sturgeon
harvest
• 1809 – Canning and bottling techniques
developed and revolutionize caviar sales
LAKE STURGEON
HARVEST
STATISTICS
YEAR
CATCH
1894
135 TONS
1899
106 TONS
1922
5 TONS
1200
1000
20000
Commercial Fishermen
Pounds Harvested
15000
800
600
10000
400
5000
200
0
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
YEAR
1990
2000
0
2010
Sturgeon Harvest (Pounds)
Number of Commercial Fishermen
STURGEON HARVEST AND EFFORT
MISSOURI RIVER
800
70000
Commercial Fishermen
Pounds Harvested
60000
600
50000
40000
400
30000
20000
200
10000
0
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
YEAR
1990
2000
0
2010
Sturgeon Harvest (Pounds)
Number of Commercial Fishermen
STURGEON HARVEST AND EFFORT
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
Mississippi River JAN-JUN 1999
# Fishermen Reporting Sturgeon Catch
13
Total Catch
4,150 lbs
Range (Total Catch / Fisherman)
13-1,200 lbs
Average Catch / Fisherman
319 lbs
2 Fishermen (15%) Caught 2,200 lbs (53% of Total)
5 Fishermen (38%) Caught 3,485 lbs (84% of Total)
Mississippi River JUL-DEC 1999
# Fishermen Reporting Sturgeon Catch
16
Total Catch
7,050 lbs
Range (Total Catch / Fisherman)
2-4,600 lbs
Average Catch / Fisherman
440 lbs
1 Fishermen (6%) Caught 4,600 lbs (65% of Total)
5 Fishermen (31%) Caught 6,115 lbs (87% of Total)
Shovelnose Sturgeon Value
•
•
•
•
•
Flesh - $0.34 per pound
Eggs (Commercial) - $30.59 per pound
Eggs (Wholesale) - ~$60 to $80 per pound
Eggs (Retail) - $156 to $275 per pound
Beluga (Retail) - $756 to $1375 per pound
NE Missouri Wholesaler 2001 Records
Bought 4,740 lbs of sturgeon eggs
from 26 fishermen
@ $97,264.80 ($20.52 / lb)
9 of 26 fishermen (34%) accounted for 92% of harvest (4,346 lbs)
Morrison MO
Hartsburg MO
Hardin IL
Jeff City MO
Hartsburg MO
Tebbetts MO
Tuscumbia MO
Jeff City MO
Louisiana MO
1,342 lbs
677 lbs
550 lbs
348 lbs
358 lbs
285 lbs
396 lbs
214 lbs
176 lbs
$34,654
$13,805
$9,856
$6,988
$6,935
$5,705
$5,475
$4,200
$3,510
Sold 3,645 lbs of eggs in 3 lots for $212,394.15 (58.27 / lb)
@ 20.52 / lb he had invested $74,795.40
from these 3 sales he profited ~$134,598.75
N
CPUE
RSD-25
CPUE >25”
Missouri River
St Joseph
Kansas City
Booneville
Mokane
Weldon Spring
569
718
474
1333
188
28.5
35.9
23.7
66.7
9.4
8
13
12
19
24
2.4
4,5
2.8
12.6
2.3
Mississippi River
Crystal City
Cape Girardeau
Caruthersville
92
32
161
4.6
1.6
8.0
13
34
24
0.6
0.6
1.9
700
NUMBER
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
LENGTH (INCHES)
Wr-Q
Wr-P
15.0”-19.9” 20.0”-24.9”
Wr-M
25.0”-31.9”
Missouri River
St Joseph
Kansas City
Booneville
Mokane
Weldon Spring
101
102
95
108
122
95
101
96
103
116
84
90
86
93
105
Mississippi River
Crystal City
Cape Girardeau
Caruthersville
124
96
101
119
105
100
109
96
92
AGE INFORMATION
Missouri River
N = 672
Range 5-24 years (one 37 year old fish)
Annual Mortality = 24%
Modal Age 11-15 years
Mississippi River
N = 251
Range 5-22 years
Annual Mortality = 24%
Modal Age 9-13 years
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
FECUNDITY
Mean = 13,262
Range 10,043 – 17,807
SEX RATIO
5.2 males : 1 female
3.5
Catch per unit effort of Scaphirhynchus spp. during winter
sampling (November-March) using gill nets in the middle
Mississippi River 1997- 2002.
1997 cpue: 25 net nights;N=527
1998 cpue: 54 net nights;N=1052
1999 cpue: 48 net nights;N=474
2000 cpue: 21 net nights;N=177
2002 cpue: 20 net nights;N=30
CPUE (fish / net night)
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
8 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Fork Length (inches)
Fisherman Osaini Ali said three years
ago he brought in 2,600 pounds
(1,200 kg) of caviar. So far this year,
his catch is not even 220 pounds (100
kg), and he doesn't know why.
Outside Iran, illegal fishing and caviar
sales are estimated at $1 billion
dollars a year, more than 10 times the
total for official legal sales.
Legal production of caviar in the
Caspian basin is now less than 1,000
tons. It was more than 20 times that
only two decades ago.
FUTURE OF CAVIAR INDUSTRY
• Stolt sturgeon farm – commercially raising white
sturgeon for caviar in California – harvested 4 tons of
caviar in 2000 with future of 10-15 tons
• Reservoir ranching of paddlefish – proposed stocking of
gynogens in public KY reservoirs – stocking paddlefish in
MO private impoundments
• Chicken caviar – Novo Petrovsky chicken farm – “caviar”
created with eggs mixed with sunflower oil, salt, fish
essence, and India tea for color – droplets fried in oil –
very similar to caviar taste but 15 times less expensive
We have the luxury of vodka.
We have the luxury of caviar.
But time, that luxury we do not have.
Nikita Khrushchev