Sturgeon snatched in poaching crackdown
Published: 11 April, 2008, 13:53
Edited: 12 November, 2009, 10:02
In Russia's republic of Dagestan police have confiscated almost 8 tonnes of sturgeon caught by poachers. The fish was found in a truck stashed under boxes with fruits, and by law has been destroyed.
Police say sturgeon was ordered from Moscow and they’re now are trying to find the owner of the load.
It's not the first case of poaching on a large scale in Russia after sturgeon spawning season started. On Thursday, Moscow police confiscated a large store of poor quality caviar worth over $US 120,000 from one of the city's markets.
Russia is one of the world's leading producers of caviar, selling over seven tonnes a year. In Europe, a kilogramme of caviar costs up to 6,000 Euros, or over $US 9,000.
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Why not ban the import of caviar? At $9000 a pound or whatever, only the super-rich can afford it anyway. I had it once, and it was at a party catered by my billionaire cousin. It wasn't very tasty...not something I miss. On the other hand, the sturgeon is a very tasty food fish, and should be regulated for that purpose. In California, an eight ounce sturgeon steak costs about $6.00. With half the world starving or malnutrieted, using this fish for food makes sense, and the scraps are excellent fertilizer. We all understand that a food such as pate-de-foie gras is super-expensive because of the difficulty findding truffles, but truffles are not endangered. In the U.S., a sturgeon license dictates that only one fish over 100 lbs be caught per year. These fish are vigorously protected. I hate to think of tons of sturgeon wasted because of their eggs.