Farming for caviar; and dangers

Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will entertain an idea to allow the importing and farming of Sterlet sturgeon, a Russian delicacy, but currently banned in the state. Its eggs are the food equivalent to gold and reaching prices of about $100 an ounce as top-shelf caviar. The proposal would permit the raising of the fish in indoor pools. "If we find a way to sustainably raise caviar,” said Wildlife and Fisheries Commissioner Jerri Smitko, a Houma lawyer, “it's not just good for a few but for everyone." Sturgeons have swum the Earth's waterways for some 200 million years, and grow to as large as 20-feet long. But economic benefit pale in comparison to the environmental risk, according to a number of wildlife groups and other government agencies, including W&F’s own biologists. If sturgeon are released or escape, they could compete with Louisiana's four native sturgeon species for food and habitat, according to Patrick Banks, head of W&F’s fisheries division. Two local sturgeon varieties are of particular concern: The Pallid and Gulf sturgeon. The Pallid is disappearing from the lower Mississippi basin. The Gulf sturgeon only moves into Louisiana rivers to spawn, and was damaged by the 2010 BP oil spill. Both are threatened species. "The department has been very clear: Each time (sturgeon farming is proposed), we recommend not moving forward," Banks said. Despite alarms, the commission will hold a public hearing Jan. 24 in Baton Rouge. Approval could come early this year. (Source: NOLA.com 01/20/18)