The cost of caviar is largely related to the ban on catching sturgeon breeds. Only aquaculture farms can legally supply black caviar to the market, in which this unique breed of fish is bred on purpose, without harm to the population in the wild.
Previously, the water area of the Volga river basin contained huge reserves of sturgeon. Among them: Russian and Persian sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, sterlet, beluga. But the total number of fish under the influence of various negative factors has significantly decreased. At the beginning of the 20 century, about 40,000 tons of valuable fish were caught, and already at the beginning of the 21 century - no more than 600 tons.
In 2005, USA banned the import of all beluga and beluga caviar products from the Caspian Sea. And since 2009, commercial production of all sturgeon has been banned.
NATURAL BLACK CAVIAR CANNOT BE CHEAP
The high price of caviar is caused by several objective factors. In order to obtain a finished product, fish farmers need to raise sturgeon for three to four years before the formation of an adult. After that, you can determine the sex of a particular fish. Males who are unable to provide the required product are sent for processing. Females are raised for about four more years, when they will be able to produce high-quality, mature eggs. For beluga females, the process of growth and maturation lasts up to 15–20 years.
The fish farm incurs long-term costs throughout the entire cycle, which includes the costs of maintenance, equipment, feed, rent and staff salaries. This forms the final high cost of the caviar