"Caviar Farmers" Hoping For Big Payday

"Caviar Farmers" Hoping For Big Payday LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous 30-2-6 Idaho fish farmer Leo Ray has been working with the College of Southern Idaho and other fish farmers in the state to get into the caviar business with farm-raised sturgeon. "We figure we get about 5 percent of the body weight as finished caviar, but we hope to get to 10 percent," says Ray. Mature females weigh in at 100 lbs. At wholesale prices of $28 an ounce for caviar, Ray and other members of the group say they expect to eventually harvest $2,000 to $4,000 in eggs per fish. Even so, this is no get rich quick scheme. Sturgeons have to be 8 to 10 years old before they start to produce eggs and harvesting the eggs requires killing the fish. In addition, sturgeon have to be handled with great care, especially when young. Currently the consortium has about 100 females to harvest each year for the next four to five years. After that they will expand to 400 to 500 females a year. "Sturgeon have to be four to five years old before we can even sex them," notes Ray. By then they are a mere 25 lbs. or so, but ideal for turning into fish fillets, which Ray also markets. They are available fresh at his processing plant or shipped frozen in five 1-lb. packs at $9/lb. for fillets. Ray started raising tilapia and catfish in Idaho in 1973. He now produces 500,000 lbs., of catfish and 100,000 lbs., of tilapia each year using geothermal hot water. He also raises a million pounds of rainbow trout in cold water systems. To use up the fish waste from all the processing, he also raises and sells alligators. Now he has added white sturgeon, native to Idaho. To farm-raise sturgeon, Ray and others worked with the college. They first had to get them to reproduce in captivity and then they had to develop a market for the meat to pay costs. Both goals have been met. "We sold about 30,000 lbs. of sturgeon last year," says Ray. "I would be hesitant to invest in something with a return 10 years later, especially when it is risky and can change politically." Finally, after more than a 10-year investment, consortium members have begun collecting on the sale of caviar. International politics and environmental rules are adding value to these Idaho sturgeon. Caviar produced in Russia from Beluga sturgeon has long been considered the highest quality caviar. But over-fishing since the old Soviet Union collapsed has destroyed their industry. The Beluga are now considered endangered, and bans have been placed on the sale of Beluga caviar. Ray is confident that farmed white sturgeon produced in Idaho and in California can make up the difference. He will know later this year. "Caviar is usually harvested in the spring and consumed in the fall and winter," explains Ray. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leo Ray, Fish Breeders of Idaho, 4647-C River Rd., Buhl, Idaho 83316 (ph 208 837-6114; fpi@pmt.org).

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