Do Not Mess With Fish 92,

and you thought fish were fun! well it is not for the Sturgeon, since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, poachers and criminal gangs have been spiriting the delicate eggs from the Caspian Sea to gourmet diners across Europe, Asia and the U.S. after more than 200 million years, sturgeon are losing a battle for survival, the Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature today said that 85 per cent of sturgeon was at a very high risk of extinction in the wild, it classified 17 of the 25 or 27 sturgeon species as critically endangered, ‘This is the last chance, there is no time left, these fish are at death's door,’ said Professor Ellen Pikitch, executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University in New York, said, most of the sturgeon left in the wild spawn in the rivers that flow into the Caspian, a region dominated by Iran and Russia, the Russian tsars created a monopoly for the sale of caviar and the Soviet authorities kept tight control over the business, but unfortunately not any more, it is a free for all that is in free fall, fishing catches are four to five times higher than levels that would allow the Beluga sturgeon to simply survive at today's vastly reduced population levels, some species, such as the Beluga sturgeon which produces highly prized, delicate grey caviar, have seen a 93 per cent decline in catches, according to researchers, now is the time to stop before it is too late, but I am sure my comment will fall on deaf ears where money - big money is concerned, as an aside the Sturgeon is a 'a royal fish' every one caught dead or alive in UK waters must first be offered to the Royal household, but back to the post, if you want to save the Sturgeon say no to caviar!