Canada's only white sturgeon farm is on the verge of its first black caviar harvest after 11 long years of tender slimy care. The Target Marine hatchery and land-based aquaculture operation near Sechelt has about 2,000 mature females nearing harvest age, according to general manager Justin Henry. About 100 fish will be harvested for caviar this year and some of those eggs will be held back for fertilization to start the next generation of sturgeon.
"We had thought they would mature at eight years, because that's what we had seen in other countries, so it's been a long wait," said Henry. "No one had ever grown the Fraser River strain before." Each of the female sturgeon nearing sexual maturity this spring can weigh 40 to 120 kilograms and yield four to 10 kilos of black caviar, worth up to US$3,000 per kilo retail.
The fish are killed by percussive stunning and the roe harvested through an incision the length of the belly. Target started selling mature males for meat about four months ago and plans to sell the meat from harvested females, as well. The wholesale price of farmed sturgeon is more than US$20 a kilo. Henry has been contacted by firms as far away as China and Japan interested in purchasing the caviar when it is ready. "We have already had interested buyers from the United States come and visit the hatchery," Henry said. Read more...
This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.
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