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Limits on the trade of caviar from the Caspian Sea could benefit Stolt Sea Farm, which -produces caviar from farmraised white sturgeon in Elverta. But rumors of a shortage bedeviling holiday dinners this winter are exaggerated.
International trade rules have made it tougher for Caspian Sea countries to export caviar from beluga sturgeon, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a rule that would make importing the delicacy to the United States more difficult.
Smaller imports of beluga caviar have already driven up prices, while concerns about future scarcity threaten to drive up the cost even more. But domestic caviar producers have kept prices for their products more stable.
"Everybody thinks there's immediately going to be shortage of caviar," said Stolt Sea Farm general manager Peter Struffenegger. With imports of caviar from 2003 still coming in, he said, beluga shortages might not be felt until next year,
About 90 percent of the world's caviar comes from the Caspian Sea. The beleaguered beluga sturgeon, whose eggs are most prized, has suffered due to overfishing and destruction...