Don't tell James Bond; it may be worse than torture in a North Korean prison.
The US Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed that the beluga sturgeon be added to its list of endangered animals, an issue that will be discussed at a December 5 public hearing.
Because of the decline in the beluga population, according to the Washington Post, gourmands "are willing to pay $1,500 a pound or so on the U.S. market, which has the biggest appetite for the eggs. The global caviar trade is estimated to be $100 million a year, with illegal trade at least 10 times that amount."
The Post also reports that the move to get the species listed as endangered has come from an organization called "Caviar Emptor," which filed a lawsuit to force the issue.
The US Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed that the beluga sturgeon be added to its list of endangered animals, an issue that will be discussed at a December 5 public hearing.
Because of the decline in the beluga population, according to the Washington Post, gourmands "are willing to pay $1,500 a pound or so on the U.S. market, which has the biggest appetite for the eggs. The global caviar trade is estimated to be $100 million a year, with illegal trade at least 10 times that amount."
The Post also reports that the move to get the species listed as endangered has come from an organization called "Caviar Emptor," which filed a lawsuit to force the issue.
- KC's View:
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Taking beluga off the market may make sense, but one can only imagine the business that will end up being done on the black market if it happens.
We feel a certain responsibility for this problem. The first time we ever had beluga, we were at a fancy party given by Mrs. Content Guy's grandmother in New York City, long before she became Mrs. Content Guy.
We saw this stuff sitting in a tray, tasted it, liked it…and so we made a sandwich out of it…only to be informed later that the future in-laws were horrified by the sight of this Irish kid feasting on what was, in essence, a beluga caviar wedge.
Amazing that she married us…
