Florida Aquaculture Hopes To Add Sturgeon To Menu

Scientists at UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences say sturgeon, whose eggs are a delicacy as caviar, could provide a lucrative opportunity for Florida's fishing and aquaculture industry.

UF/IFAS scientists are studying the sturgeon in hopes of replenishing rivers and establishing a new fish-farming industry in Florida.

Frank Chapman, assistant professor of fisheries and aquatic sciences, is researching the growth traits and reproduction capabilities of the lively black and gray fish. Some of those fish, raised in holding tanks at UF, have been introduced to open ponds and aquaculture farms in the Florida panhandle.

``In Florida, sturgeon are extinct for all practical purposes,'' Chapman said. ``This research will tell us if we can stimulate production of the sturgeon and if they are a viable source for food and stock enhancement.''

Today's technology would allow the fish to be farm-raised as an industry for aquaculture and for future release into natural waters, said Wallis Clark, professor of fisheries and aquatic sciences. In the past, Russia has been a large producer of caviar from sturgeon, but with the recent breakdown of industry in that country, Florida could help fill a niche in that large market by exporting sturgeon products.

``Since sturgeon are indigenous to Florida,'' Clark said, ``this is one industry that should help the economy and the environment at the same time.''

With caviar currently priced around $300 per pound, both caviar and smoked sturgeon are expensive delicacies in most countries.

The eggs account for approximately 15 percent of the body weight of a female sturgeon, and a mature female fish native to Florida weighs an average of 80 to 100 pounds, but can reach upwards of 400 to 500 pounds.

Larger species found in Russia and other areas of the world can grow to 12 feet long and weigh as much as 4,000 pounds, Chapman said.

In February, Clark and Chapman helped move 200 10-month-old sturgeons to their new home at a UF/IFAS aquaculture demonstration facility in Blountstown, where researchers assist and train local farmers in the aquaculture industry. Another 200 fish were moved to a neighboring north Florida farm where aquaculture farmer David Shuler will continue to raise the fish in open ponds, allowing the sturgeon to be studied in a more natural environment.

Sylvia K. Beauchamp

photo by: Milt Putman

Fisheries and aquatic sciences Professor Frank Chapman holds a 10-month-old sturgeon raised at an IFAS aquatic sciences facility in Gainesville.