Another sturgeon farm coming to B.C.
In a recent article in Vancouver-based The Province newspaper, journalist Paul Luke explains that another Canadian entrepreneur- Steve Atkinson- is starting to produce the popular fish at a tank facility based in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Sturgeon aquaculture as well as conservation efforts for the fish are supported by a new International Centre for Sturgeon Studies at the local Vancouver Island University;
Sechelt-based Target Marine Hatcheries, which has been growing sturgeon since 2000, sells its highly regarded caviar under the Northern Divine brand. You can buy a 30-gram tin of Northern Divine for $99 (~€80), and a 100-gram tin for $304 (~€245). If you really want to splurge, a 1.8-kg tin will cost you $5,148 (~€4,148). Target Marine general manager Justin Henry estimates that by the time a female sturgeon’s meat and caviar reaches consumers’ mouths, the fish can generate sales for retailers of $10,000 to $20,000 (~€8,058 – 16,116).
Target Marine is the grandaddy of Canada’s four sturgeon farms — there are two others in New Brunswick — but it’s still a baby, having harvested its first caviar only last year. Sturgeon is not a business where you can get rich quick: a long growth cycle imposes a slow infancy on anyone raising the fish. After a dozen years, Target Marine’s sturgeon business hasn’t reached the point of paying for itself. “You can’t change the time it takes,” Henry says. “When we harvested our first sturgeon for caviar last year, it’s like we just made it to the starting gate.”
Don Tillapaugh, director of the International Centre for Sturgeon Studies at Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island University, believes more sturgeon farms are on the way in B.C. Tillapaugh has fielded inquiries about farming sturgeon from four people over the last year. “I’m encouraged by the quality of the individuals that are coming to kick the tires because they’ve had experience in the aquaculture industry,” he says. “They’re all qualified investors, as compared with people who think it’s a cool idea and see sex appeal in producing caviar.”
High barriers to entering the potentially lucrative caviar side of sturgeon growing may keep the trickle of sturgeon farmers from becoming a flood. Growers intending to focus on caviar production need patience, deep pockets and an alternate source of income, Atkinson says. If caviar is Canada’s richest crop, it’s also one of the slowest growing. White sturgeon females mature slowly and, at current growth rates, first caviar production takes at least 11 years. “A farmer wants to get his crop to market as soon as possible because his money is at risk as long as it’s in production,” Tillapaugh says. “Eleven years is a long time to wait for the very first crop.”
Atkinson is in the midst of building a land-based closed-containment farm for steelhead in Nanaimo. Steelhead will grow to market size in less than a year, compared with three years for sturgeon. “That’s what’s going to allow me to do some of the sturgeon business, because I’ll have the steelhead paying some of the bills,” he says.
Target Marine, which also has B.C. owners, has supported the development of its sturgeon business by selling salmon smolts and fertilized salmon eggs, Henry says. Target Marine, with a staff of 13 caring for more than 100 freshwater tanks, currently has 40,000 white sturgeon ranging up to 12 years old, not counting the 2012 generation. Inquisitive and generally docile, sturgeon are a pleasure to grow, Atkinson and Henry say. “I’ve met most of the key people who work with sturgeon around the world and everybody is captivated by them,” Atkinson says. “You don’t have that with any other fish.”
In August, Target Marine fired up an elaborate, $1-million(~€806,000) facility to process meat and caviar. It expects to harvest about 500 kg of caviar this year, up from 300 kg last year. Northern Divine got a boost last year when Travel & Leisure magazine rated the brand one of the world’s top sustainable caviars. Target Marine expects to sell about 17 tonnes of meat this year. Demand is strong from high-end restaurants, where chefs love it, Henry says. Ironically, the biggest demand for Target Marine’s meat comes from Russia. That nation, which historically supplied much of the world with sturgeon meat, has seen its wild sturgeon fishery collapse. “They want to buy 100 times what we can produce,” Henry says. “It’s a bit sad. The sturgeon consumers are there but they don’t have the stocks from the Caspian Sea anymore.”
