America to introduce ban on caviar

[T_i_B]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/article311557.ece

The United States is expected to impose a blanket ban very shortly on the import of beluga caviar from the Caspian Sea region, in a move designed to prevent the delicacy from vanishing forever from melba toasts and fine bone china dishes because of drastic environmental damage and over-harvesting.

Beluga has long been considered the tastiest and most aristocratic of caviars, especially in the United States, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of consumption. But, last year, the US officially placed the fish that produces the rare roe, the beluga sturgeon, on its endangered species list.

More importantly, American wildlife officials also served notice earlier this year to several beluga-caviar nations that a ban would be instituted unless they each drew up management plans to protect the beluga sturgeon from extinction. The beluga can grow up to 4,000lbs and live a hundred years. The deadline for those plans to be completed and submitted for consideration by the United States had been set for 6 September and, so far, none have been received.

Environmental groups lobbied the US government this week to carry out its threat to ban caviar from the countries concerned, which are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan.

[Spinzonner]

1. Damn, that's really gonna kill my lifestyle

[Xipe Totec]

2. What's Caviar?

Is it some kind of preppy peanut butter?

:sarcasm:

[T_i_B]

3. It goes like this

Caviar is a the roe of a virgin sturgeon
which is a very rare fish

The virgin sturgeon need no urgin'
so caviar is a very rare dish.

:-)

[Judi Lynn]

4. I would expect to see those dandy doughnuts with powdered sugar

start substituting for the caviar.

[T_i_B]

5. "Make doughnuts not war"

Brings to mind the "MAKE TEA NOT WAR" protest signs from the Febuary 15th 2003 anti-war protest in London. :-)

[Judi Lynn]

11. Great! I found a photo. It looks terrific.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Ban the most expensive caviar?

1. Two words: Bootleg Beluga
2. The real reason for the ban: Caviar and Budweiser don't go well together (drop-off of sales in the red states and the WH).

[tonekat]

10. LOL! ROFL! caviar and buttweiser!

<<The real reason for the ban: Caviar and Budweiser don't go well together (drop-off of sales in the red states and the WH).>>

Yeah, Clem and Billie Sue will just substitute pork rinds.

[blindpig]

7. probably too late

All species of sturgeon are in serious trouble worldwide. Environmental degradation will not stop in the foreseeable future. Even with a ban the black market will continue and probably increase, as is the nature of black markets when bans are imposed.

Of the countries mentioned only Iran has any handle on the black market, no doubt due to it's draconian approach. Poachers have been killed when caught in the act and those convicted have a hand cut off. The rest are utterly corrupted.

Few today know that the US once had hugh sturgeon populations. Damn building, blocking the fish from their spawning ground coupled with a turn of the century caviar rush smashed the populations. In the 1980s there was a minor resurgence in the US fishery as relict and slowly rebuilding stocks were hammered, the products often fraudulently labeled as beluga.

So say goodbye to the sturgeon, another victim of the hubris of the hairless chimps.

[T_i_B]

20. "only Iran has any handle on the black market"

Of the countries mentioned only Iran has any handle on the black market, no doubt due to it's draconian approach. Poachers have been killed when caught in the act and those convicted have a hand cut off. The rest are utterly corrupted.

Which is why Iranian caviar is apparently considered the best stuff nowadays. It's considered to be of better quality then the stuff the Russian mob has had its hands on.

[LeighAnn]

8. What about that cheap stuff they sell at Hy-Vee?

I wonder if it's endangering any species. Hope not, 'cause that's as close as I'm able to get to "the good life". But I'll give it up in a heartbeat if it means saving a species.

[Jamastiene]

9. Ah, hell, that's a'ight. I couldn't afford it anyhow. n/t

[Julius Civitatus]

12. David Broder and the DC press whores won't be too happy about this

What is Sally Quinn and the rest of the DC socialite whores going to serve in their cocktail parties?

Oh my!

:sarcasm:

[IndianaGreen]

13. Caviar? I can barely afford Wendy's!

Harvesting caviar means killing female beluga sturgeons for their eggs. The idiots are destroying their own livelihoods!

[Robb]

14. What's next? Lattes? My Berkeley shirts?

:D

The fact that we're buying anything from Turkmenistan is still astounding to me.

[Anywho6]

15. Dick's Sunday brunches will never be the same n/t

[davsand]

16. I pledge not to buy caviar!

I'll support the (p)Resident and his regime on this one! True patriots boycott Beluga!

----

Sorry I got a little carried away there for a second. I just want to be one of the "in-crowd" so very much.

Just once I want to be called a patriot.

Sarcasm and silliness off now.




Laura

[medeak]

17. salmon caviar is great....

(am caviar lover...but there are alternatives)

here is link for american caviar:
http://www.911caviar.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=american_caviar

[bitchkitty]

27. Ewwwwwww!

Sorry, I hate salmon roe. It's good for bait, though.

[Psephos]

30. I agree, it's fabulous

Thanks for the link.

Peace.

[anitar1]

18. Damn nasty stuff, IMHO. yuck n/t

[Coventina]

19. This is one ban I'm glad to see.

Long overdue.

I just don't understand the mentality of an industry that wants to put itself out of business as soon as possible.

:shrug:

[0007]

21. Beans & Rice for this poor boy that eats like a king.

[pokercat999]

22. When I was young and we were very poor my father

would fry and eat the roe of the carp we caught in the local river. We didn't have a car so almost every day from early spring till very late fall we walked to the river (not far in the "bad" part of town) and fished. I can remember that by the time I was 6 or 7 I could cast further than almost any adult using a steel rod with braided line and a old casting reel.

One time in early spring my line kept getting "stuck" as it peeled out the reel through the eyelets on the rod. It was so cold the water coming off the line was freezing the eyelets closed.

What amazes me now is how my parents managed raise 3 kids and bring them up to become "successful" adults under those conditions. Aside from not having a car I never realized how "poor" we were until I got to high school. Now I realize we weren't "poor" in the things that counted, we just lacked money.

[pinniped]

23. How about a ban to protect wild salmon habitats????

Nah, that would cost the corporations too much money.

[bleedingheart]

24. I am here to save you all! Caviar Substitute

Soak tapioca pearls in soy sauce until they are ready!

Voila! Caviar...

Courtesy...Archie Bunker

[Thor_MN]

25. Caviar? Bait, in my opinion....

The one time I tried caviar, (on a cruise) the only thing I could think of as I ate it was the spawn bags that people used to fish with on the North Shore of Lake Superior. They would take the eggs of any female trout they caught and tie them into a bag the size of a nickel to use as bait to catch more fish. It was the exact same smell.

In my opinion, the ban is not really going to affect the "haves" and the "have mores", it's just going to make it unavailable to any common person who is foolish enough to have a taste for fish bait. It will drive up the price, which will only increase it's desirability by the people who more money than they can spend.

[MADem]

26. I have had the opportunity to partake of caviar on many occasions

...and I am with you, it tastes like fish bait. I just do not like it, despite many attempts at "acquiring the taste." But I am not a fan of anchovies, either, so I guess anything very fishy will never win with me.

Give me some scallops any day, now those I will not pass up!

[ret5hd]

28. well, one more item that tom delay will find the time and money for:

tom delay smoking a cuban cigar:

[Buns_of_Fire]

29. I suppose I'll have to cut my caviar consumption down to zero...

Wait a minute -- my caviar consumption is ALREADY at zero! (Oysters -- both aquatic and Rocky Mountain-type -- have nothing to fear from me, either.)

Just doin' my little bit for conservation. :thumbsup:

[skrunch]

31. Shameless Plug Alert!!!

for a hometown product that helps non-profit organizations

http://www.northstarcaviar.com/about.htm