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To judge from the foul language they use when they hook into one, fishermen in South Louisiana consider the choupique anything but a delicacy.
This incredibly ugly holdout from prehistoric times -- also known as cypress trout or bowfin -- has long been regarded as a trash fish by anglers in pursuit of the more noble black bass.
But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for LSU student John Burke, no other fish is quite as alluring as the homely choupique.
The beauty lies in the fish's eggs.
Burke has found that the female of the species produces roe that makes an excellent caviar. Believe it or not, many compare it favorably to the classic Russian beluga caviar -- the stuff they sell for $80 an ounce in fancy restaurants.
At prices like that, Burke's affection grows with every pregnant choupique that swims by.
He has started a new business, Louisiana Caviars, to market the choupique eggs. It is now a modest-but-growing endeavor that has produced and sold about 1,000 pounds of bayou-bred caviar this year.
Still a Small Fry
The young entrepreneur majors in general studies at LSU and, until this year, had planned to go to law school. He now has greater expectations.
"This (caviar production) has taken off so big I'm going to pursue it full-time," he said. "There are 1,200 lawyers in Baton Rouge alone. How many caviar producers are there in (the whole state of) Louisiana?"
Burke is still a small fry in the caviar business, with competitors in Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee and several foreign countries, including the Soviet Union.
However, he believes his product is of such high quality it will soon establish itself as one of the world's finest caviars.
The quality of the fish's roe is not as unlikely as it might at first seem when you consider the creature's heritage. "The choupique," said Burke, "is one of the true caviar fishes,"...