A new kettle of fish - Luxuries - Markys Caviar Inc - Brief Article

South Florida CEO, July, 2003 by Johanna Marmon

* Caviar lovers who eat their canapes conscientiously will no doubt rejoice at the news that Marky's, a Miami-based importer of gourmet foods, has become the first US company to bring live beluga Caspian sturgeon into the country. Marky's CEO Mark Zaslavsky, who hand-picked the fish from a Russian fish farm, plans to use his catch of five eight-pounders to start Sturgeon Aquafarms in central Florida--all in the name of saving wild sturgeon populations, which have dropped dramatically over the past two decades, from overfishing.

White eating farm-bed sturgeon roe isn't new--US aquafarms cultivate paddlefish roe and domestic white sturgeon roe for consumption--this is the first time authentic beluga caviar will be farmed. And it doesn't stop there for Marky's: the company recently signed an agreement with a Russian caviar producer to purchase the delicacy without killing the adult female sturgeon. As part of the agreement, the company performs DNA batch tests for each caviar species to ensure origin and quality. Wouldn't Greenpeace be proud?