Farmed Caviar

In the 20th century the caviar industry experienced a change with the development of farmed caviar. It took a while, but sturgeon aquaculture eventually became popular and today farmed caviar competes in the market with wild-caught sturgeon caviar. While caviar from wild-caught fish is generally known to be superior in flavor and quality, excellent types of farmed caviar are also available. The positive side of buying caviar that is raised in farms is that it relieves the demand for wild sturgeon species that are endangered. Overfishing is a problem throughout the world. The United States was a chief caviar producer in the 19th century, but commercial sturgeon harvesting was banned due to overfishing and it resulted in the success of American caviar that is the product of farming and is compared to wild Caspian caviar. Over a dozen countries throughout the world are engaged in producing farmed caviar. The sturgeons that are grown for the purpose are kept in indoor or outdoor pools or in penned sections of rivers.