Go Idaho!

From baker's potatoes to caviar, Idaho goes uptown!

Idaho farmers try to crack caviar market
Globe and Mail

Hagerman, Idaho ?- Leo Ray's future is in a tiny glass jar.

The miniature, nearly black orbs glistening inside represent nearly 17 years of time, money and effort.

And with wholesale prices ranging between $30 and $55 (U.S.) an ounce, the sturgeon eggs could also represent Idaho's most expensive agricultural product.

"Any fish is like a sponge. It tastes like the water it comes out of, and we have the best water in the world here," said Mr. Ray, the owner of Fish Breeders of Idaho.

It is a premise that Mr. Ray, Ark Fisheries owners Lynn and Kathy Babington and other regional fish farmers are banking on. They're raising Snake River sturgeon for both their meat and caviar with technical advice from a co-operative made up of the Idaho Aquaculture Association, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the College of Southern Idaho.

This year could be the first big caviar crop. The white sturgeon does not start producing eggs until it is between 8 and 10 years old, and it can take a few years more before the fish matures enough to produce roe suitable for market.

"The biggest challenge is starting young enough to have the time to wait for the caviar to hit the market," Mr. Ray joked. "It's my 401k retirement plan, and Uncle Sam doesn't have to worry about anyone pulling it out early."

Timing may be everything. The white sturgeon's elite Caspian Sea cousins ?- beluga, osetra and sevruga sturgeons ?- have set the standards by which every fish egg is measured.

But they are also teetering on the edge of extinction.

Over fishing and poaching have threatened Caspian Sea sturgeon, and the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has given Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan until mid-June to prove they are implementing rules to protect the fish.

Some restaurants are turning to the less expensive farm-raised American caviar to fill the gaps left in their menus.

Sturgeon can grow to hundreds of pounds, and some of the farm-raised fish weigh as much as 150 pounds. The eggs can make up more than 10 per cent of the body weight, Lynn Babington said.

Removing the caviar kills the fish. The entire ovary is removed and carefully rubbed across a screen to separate the eggs from the membrane. The eggs are lightly salted and packed in jars or tins.

During the holiday season, Mr. Ray sent samples of his caviar out to his steady customers, and now some of them are ordering regularly. Most of his next harvest will be sold before he kills a fish.

Initial tastes have brought rave reviews, and Idaho caviar may one day compete with beluga because of the environmental control a farm offers, he said.

"There's a good chance that in the aquaculture environment we can bump it up to the best quality," he said. "It's just about harvesting and adding salt at the right time."