Fish farmers hoe an exquisite roe

摘要

To Shakespeare, caviar was a metaphor for something so special it appealed only to the refined tastes of the rich and powerful of the Elizabethan world. Four hundred years later, the glistening grey-black roe is still a taste most of the world cannotafford to acquire. If anything, it has become even more of a delicacy, available in smaller and smaller quantities. The most highly valued caviar is the spawn of the sturgeon (Acipenseridae), known as the "king of fish. " A prehistoric relic, it is one of the most ancient surviving vertebrates, highly edibleand well worth preserving even without the bonus of caviar. But the sturgeon species that produce the best quality caviar have disappeared from most of Europe and North America where they once were common. Whether any at all continue to survive may depend on aquaculture.