Somebody Call a Sturgeon! Caviar Prices Are Flatlining China has become one of the world’s largest producers of caviar and it is driving global prices down

ByLucy CraymerMarch 18, 2019 9:00 a.m. ET

Caviar prices are sinking as fish eggs cultivated in China are flooding the global market for what used to be a rare delicacy.

The tiny, salt-cured eggs from wild female sturgeon were once at risk of extinction due to overfishing and poaching. As a result, all trade in wild caviar has been tightly controlled under a global treaty since 1998. 

These days, most caviar is harvested from sturgeon farmed in rivers, lakes and tanks around the world. A booming aquaculture industry has developed in some parts of the world to meet demand for caviar, which is typically consumed in small amounts as a topping on pastas and hors d’oeuvres. In recent years, China has become one of the world’s largest producers of caviar, and it is driving global prices down.

Caviar imported into the U.S. sold for an average price of $276.24 a kilogram in November, down about 13% from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. These prices have nearly halved since 2012.

The U.S. imported $17.8 million worth of caviar in 2018, up from $7.6 million in 2014. About half of the 2018 imports came from China, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.Skid RoeAn influx of Chinese caviar into the global market has pushed average annual priceslower.Source: Food and Agriculture OrganizationNote: Data is based on import values and could include cheaper varieties of fish eggs; 2018 datais through November..a metric ton2013’14’15’16’17’180100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000$600,000

China’s total caviar export volumes surged between 2012 and 2017 to around 136 metric tons, according to trade data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. That is enough to fill 3½ shipping containers.

Farms there have been able to produce large volumes of fish eggs at a relatively low cost, which has enabled them to sell at cheaper prices than suppliers elsewhere. 

The Chinese “have a tremendous amount of power in the marketplace,” said Dale Sherrow, vice president at Seattle Caviar Co., a retailer of caviar, truffles and foie gras. He sells caviar from Belgium, Finland, Israel, Italy, Uruguay and the U.S. Read more