Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Amazonian Caviar – Banned Luxury

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 7 2005 (IPS) - The jaraquí and the black piranha, two abundant types of fish in the Amazon, permit production of a caviar similar to that made from sturgeon eggs, according to an experiment by the National Research Institute of the Amazon, INPA. However, the the study will not have commercial applications, the project's leader Edson Lessi told Tierramérica, because that would put the Amazon species in danger of extinction, as is the case of sturgeon. 888

Over-fishing is prevented by banning capture during the fishes' reproductive period. The INPA study utilized the fish eggs left over at the market in the Amazon city of Manaos.

The black piranha (Serrasalmus rhombeus) is believed to have the additional attraction of being an aphrodesiac. But the only alternative to produce more caviar, for now, is fish farming of sturgeon, which is done in neighboring Uruguay, concludes Lessi.