The other black gold.

May 11, 2012 12:45 PM

"Instead of poking the fish with a screwdriver to find out whether they are ready to spawn, farms now can use a biopsy or ultrasound. Mr. Han said that after years of trial and error, his team has found a way to make that determination by feeling various parts of a fish." An entrepreneur in South Korea gets closer to perfecting sturgeon aquaculture. (SLNYT)
posted by Nomyte (31 comments total)

Sustainable caviar! Sweet!
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:52 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sounds fishy.
posted by Doleful Creature at 12:53 PM on May 11, 2012

This is no plaice for those kind of puns, Doleful Creature.
posted by komara at 12:54 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Apropos of nothing, I spent a part of my childhood reading handbooks on freshwater ecology. One result is that I still know bits of piscine nomenclature, sturgeons in particular: Acipenser!
posted by Nomyte at 12:57 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

So the traditional method is to spend 10+ years raising fish, then harvest the eggs and kill them? Wow.
posted by basicchannel at 1:01 PM on May 11, 2012

Kill the fish, not the eggs, that is.
posted by basicchannel at 1:01 PM on May 11, 2012

his team has found a way to make that determination by feeling various parts of a fish

You might say they ... cop an eel.
posted by exogenous at 1:01 PM on May 11, 2012 [13 favorites]

So the traditional method is to spend 10+ years raising fish, then harvest the eggs and kill them? Wow.

The traditional method is to find spawning fish, slaughter them, take the caviar, and dump the carcasses back into the river.
posted by Nomyte at 1:04 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Puns, like fish, start to stink after a very short period of time.

Now, if only we could come up with a better way than prodding humans with screwdrivers to see if they'll spawn!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 1:06 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

dump the carcasses back into the river

Whoa now! Do you how much they'll pay for sturgeon meat in Asia these days?!?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 1:09 PM on May 11, 2012

It might be worth a try, just for the halibut.
posted by jquinby at 1:10 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Metafilter: poking the fish with a screwdriver.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:14 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

I recently read about a Canadian operation that is also doing sturgeon aquaculture.
"Breviro Caviar became the world’s only CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) licensed captive breeding facility for Acipenser brevirostrum sturgeon, one of the rarest of the 26 species of sturgeon left worldwide. "
posted by sevenyearlurk at 1:19 PM on May 11, 2012

Metafilter: poking the fish with a screwdriver.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 3:14 PM on May 11 [+] [!]

epynomiwhatever
posted by goethean at 1:20 PM on May 11, 2012

If men wade into the sea, when the water is low, end stroking the fish nestling in the pools, suddenly lay hands upon and secure them (more fine quotes here)
posted by zippy at 1:38 PM on May 11, 2012

Transsturgeonal ultrasound?
posted by XMLicious at 1:59 PM on May 11, 2012

One of my wilder dreams is to make enough money to build an indoor abalone farming operation.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:06 PM on May 11, 2012

Um, so is actually caviar good, I mean like good enough to justify the price? Or is it the high-price that makes it good?

I like the little salmon roe I sometimes get on my sushi, but I tried some caviar once and didn't really enjoy it. Admittedly it was from Ikea of all places and so it was very cheap. It was kind of nasty. Can someone who's had the Real Stuff enlighten me as to why it's considered such a tasty treat?
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:11 PM on May 11, 2012

So you no longer need to be a sturgeon surgeon?
posted by Splunge at 2:19 PM on May 11, 2012

Too labor-intensive. It should be done by roe bots.
posted by rocket88 at 2:30 PM on May 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

If men wade into the sea, when the water is low, end stroking the fish...

Oh noes, "Roe vs. wade" again.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:30 PM on May 11, 2012 [5 favorites]

Reddit, this isn't.
posted by cashman at 2:47 PM on May 11, 2012

And by that I mean, the pun chains there are way better. Step your game up mefi.
posted by cashman at 2:48 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

I find it wild the fish live 150 years, and the farmer has to plan on keeping them alive that long, but a power outage will kill them. You really have to think long term. Maybe the business to be in is selling 10-year-old sturgeon to hopeful farmers.
posted by stbalbach at 3:13 PM on May 11, 2012

The little roe you get with sushi are usually tobiko (flying fish) or masago (capelin or smelt). Ikura (salmon roe) are like 5 mm in diameter. They actually pop open in your mouth.

Maybe that is actually what you're talking about. If so, sorry and nevermind
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 3:21 PM on May 11, 2012

Relevant The F Word clip
posted by jgscott at 3:46 PM on May 11, 2012

I poked my wife with a screwdriver to see if our, um, conjoining would result in a baby.

The restraining order made it a lot harder to make a baby.
posted by Danf at 5:07 PM on May 11, 2012

That's what I call.... Economies of scale.
posted by dr_dank at 5:23 PM on May 11, 2012

I suppose the output per fish is measured in gills.
posted by zippy at 5:36 PM on May 11, 2012

The little roe you get with sushi are usually tobiko (flying fish) or masago (capelin or smelt). Ikura (salmon roe) are like 5 mm in diameter. They actually pop open in your mouth.

Yeah I originally meant tobiko but I've had the bigger salmon roe too. Still don't understand the appeal of caviar.
posted by Doleful Creature at 9:34 PM on May 11, 2012

Yeah I originally meant tobiko but I've had the bigger salmon roe too. Still don't understand the appeal of caviar.

It's in the same set as very ripe cheeses and Marmite. You do not have to be a fan.
posted by Nomyte at 10:59 PM on May 11, 2012