Caviar no more....? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Willravel · 01-03-2006, 04:22 PM

From BBC news:

Quote:

International caviar trade banned

Countries wishing to resume exports must come up with a plan
The global trade in caviar and other products made from the wild, endangered sturgeon fish has been banned.

"We were unable to approve the export quotas for this year," a spokesman for Cites, the convention for trade in endangered species, told BBC News.

The ban was imposed for scientific reasons and to bring an end to illegal poaching in the Caspian Sea, he said.

In recent years, about 110-150 tonnes of caviar have been exported each year from the region under a quota system.

Much of this is still available in shops.

Scarce species

The information recently provided by the sturgeon-exporting countries bordering the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea/lower Danube River, and the Heilongjiang/Amur River on the Sino-Russian border indicates that many of the sturgeon species in these shared fishing grounds are suffering serious population declines, Cites said in a statement.

The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or Cites, which represents 169 member countries, said sturgeon exporting countries should adopt a common management plan.

"Countries wishing to export sturgeon products from shared stocks must demonstrate that their proposed catch and export quotas reflect current population trends and are sustainable," said Cites secretary general Willem Wijnstekers.

"To do this, they must also make full allowance for the amount of fish caught illegally," he added.

Registration

Importers such as the European Union also have important obligations, Cites said.

"They must ensure that all imports are from legal sources, and they must establish registration systems for their domestic processing and repackaging plants and rules for the labelling of repackaged caviar.

"Many key importing countries have still not put these measures in place."

Cites says it "remains hopeful" that exporting countries will supply the necessary information to allow the resumption of trade in caviar.

The BBC's environment correspondent Tim Hirsch says countries bordering the Caspian Sea will be given until the end of next week to justify the continuation of a legal export quota.

If the authorities are still not satisfied, our correspondent says, the only legally available imported caviar this year will be tiny quantities produced in sturgeon farms.

I've been eating caspian caviar for years, and am completly in love with it. I was not aware that such an endangerment existed because my my eating habits. I think, despite what my stomach says, that vastly reducing exports for now is the right thing to do. Give the sturgen time to recuperate and multiply again. It might be a good idea to farm sturgen in areas around the caspian, and in similar climates elsewhere in order to help maintain positive population growth.

I'm really going to miss caspian caviar, at least for a while.

Suave · 01-03-2006, 05:48 PM

Good for them. I've never eaten caviar and now I suppose I never will.

tenchi069 · 01-03-2006, 06:18 PM

I don't know the specific brands off hand, but there are other brands of caviar out there, and some of it is very good, so people that are into it have alternatives. I know Ro is very good.

Carno · 01-03-2006, 09:28 PM

I tend to hate people who eat lots of caviar.

So hah. Hah to the people I hate.

EDIT: no offense to anyone who eats caviar. I don't hate people because they eat caviar, but people that I tend to hate eat caviar.

Charlatan · 01-04-2006, 06:44 AM

Same thing is going to happen to Chilean Sea Bass as well... over consumption.

kutulu · 01-04-2006, 09:38 AM

I guess this means I'll have to reduce my diet to just kobe beef, foie gras and truffles. Sad day indeed.

Valentina · 01-23-2006, 03:21 AM

willravel,
the Jan 2006 issue of Food & Wine has an article about caviar that's being produced right here in the states; apparently some of it is pretty darn good. One producer is Tsar Nicoulai, which "sustainably farms its white sturgeon Select California Estate Osetra, then sells its nutty, creamy roe to superstar chefs like Wolfgang Puck."

What's your pref: beluga, osetra, or sevruga? I'm an osetra chick myself...

Sage · 01-30-2006, 03:43 PM

There's a Trout farm in Fairview NC: Sunburst Trout Farm, that makes Trout caviar. Apparently it's a *big* deal in the caviar world.

Willravel · 01-30-2006, 03:54 PM

Don't get me wrong... there are other caviar producers out there, and many of them are really excelent. Caspian caviar is in a class of it's own, though. It's been that way for a long, long time.

Sage, I've had NC caviar from trout, and it's quite good. It has a unique taste.

01-03-2006, 05:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
Suave Twitterpated Location: My own little world (also Canada)	Good for them. I've never eaten caviar and now I suppose I never will. __________________ "Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

01-03-2006, 06:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
tenchi069 Lost Location: One step closer to the padded cell...	I don't know the specific brands off hand, but there are other brands of caviar out there, and some of it is very good, so people that are into it have alternatives. I know Ro is very good. __________________ ERROR- PLBSAK Problem Lies Between Seat and Keyboard.

01-03-2006, 09:28 PM	#4 (permalink)
Carno Junkie	I tend to hate people who eat lots of caviar. So hah. Hah to the people I hate. EDIT: no offense to anyone who eats caviar. I don't hate people because they eat caviar, but people that I tend to hate eat caviar. __________________ http://how-to-spell-ridiculous.com/

01-04-2006, 06:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	Same thing is going to happen to Chilean Sea Bass as well... over consumption. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

01-30-2006, 03:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
Sage hoarding all the big girl panties since 2005 Location: North side	There's a Trout farm in Fairview NC: Sunburst Trout Farm, that makes Trout caviar. Apparently it's a big deal in the caviar world. __________________ Sage knows our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's She answers hard acrostics, has a pretty taste for paradox She quotes in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus In conics she can floor peculiarities parabolous -C'hi

01-04-2006, 09:38 AM	#6 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	I guess this means I'll have to reduce my diet to just kobe beef, foie gras and truffles. Sad day indeed.

01-23-2006, 03:21 AM	#7 (permalink)
Valentina Upright	willravel, the Jan 2006 issue of Food & Wine has an article about caviar that's being produced right here in the states; apparently some of it is pretty darn good. One producer is Tsar Nicoulai, which "sustainably farms its white sturgeon Select California Estate Osetra, then sells its nutty, creamy roe to superstar chefs like Wolfgang Puck." What's your pref: beluga, osetra, or sevruga? I'm an osetra chick myself...

01-30-2006, 03:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	Don't get me wrong... there are other caviar producers out there, and many of them are really excelent. Caspian caviar is in a class of it's own, though. It's been that way for a long, long time. Sage, I've had NC caviar from trout, and it's quite good. It has a unique taste.