Russian caviar from Rio Negro

Russia's shops have less black caviar. According to polls, 83% of Russians haven't bought or eaten black caviar for the past two years. Only 6% of 2,000 respondents said they are currently eating caviar, while 20 percent haven't even tasted it. Not only high price is the reason for this but also less sturgeon. According to the WWF, 85% of sturgeon in wild life are critically endangered.

Sturgeon are valuable for their caviar. One female can produce about 400,000 ova in one spawning. The Caspian Sea has a lot of sturgeons harvested by 5 Caspian countries- Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

Only joint efforts by all the Caspian countries may promote sturgeon conservation.

Sturgeon breeding technology, developed already in the USSR, is widespread all over the world. Several years ago, Russian specialists took part in building a fish farm in Uruguay, in Baygorria. Today this farm called "Sturgeon from Rio Negro" sells almost 5 tons of caviar, says the Caspian fish expert Vladimir Paltsev:

"Specialists from Russia went to Uruguay to help, some of them are still working there. We have a school of sturgeon and may supply it to other countries under the international law. In 1995-998 we implemented a large-scale project with Iran. We also cooperate with other Caspian countries, as well as Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and South America".

Russian experts are very concerned with protecting sturgeon, first of all in the Caspian Sea where it suffers from poaching and pollution.

Sturgeon also occur in the Atlantic, Baltic, Black and Azov Seas, north Pacific, in lake Baikal and in some Siberian rivers. Russia had the biggest sturgeon catch in early XXth century but the current threat of extinction made the country implement a unilateral ban on catching sturgeon. Since August 1, 2007 producing and selling sturgeon caviar   is prohibited in Russia. However, other countries have to join this ban to promote sturgeon conservation. Russia wants the Caspian countries to introduce a 10-year ban on commercial fishing of sturgeon.