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Sturgeon AquaFarms, LLC (SAF) is a company that is dedicated to restoring the world's resources of sturgeon, the prehistoric fish that can live up to 100 years and grow to be 2800 lb. The company was established in order to start an aquaculture operation in Florida, USA that would farm various sturgeon species for commercial production of sturgeon meat and caviar - beluga, osetra, sevruga.

In his letter of appreciation, Mr. Eugene Lapointe, the former Secretary-General of CITES (1982-1990) calls the Sturgeon AquaFarms, LLC project initiative "a most significant conservation activity for sturgeon fish."

Sturgeon is highly valued for its caviar (unfertilized eggs), a kilogram of which can be sold for up to $2,000 on the Western markets. Aquaculture plays an important role in relieving the pressure on the world population of sturgeon, supplementing the wild catch with farmed caviar. Sturgeon AquaFarms, LLC completed a preliminary project study for commercial caviar production prepared by Anthonie M. Schuur (Aquaculture Management Services) and is in the process of raising funds to start the proposed venture. Please click here to learn more about the project design.

Beginning in June 2003, Sturgeon AquaFarms organized 13 shipments of live Caspian Sea sturgeon into the United States. Today SAF has over 1000 sevruga, 30 of which are sexually mature. The company also has 10 adult Russian and 70 adult beluga sturgeon.

On behalf of Sturgeon AquaFarms, LLC, Mr. Mark Zaslavsky, Mr. Mark Gelman and Miss Natasha Akopian are actively working on establishing the aquaculture operation. They had a meeting in Tallahassee, Florida with the representatives of Environmental Protection Agency and of Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquaculture, and presented them with the plans for the farm. State representatives expressed their support of the project and their desire to be involved in it from the very beginning.

Mark Zaslavsky and Natasha Akopian also attended the 4th International Symposium on Sturgeon in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which took place on July 8-13, 2001. Since then, there have been several major developments in the field of sturgeon protection and conservation. Beluga sturgeon has been listed as threatened in the Endangered Species Act. To learn more about this listing and its implications for sturgeon aquaculture, please click here.

In May 2004, Mark Zaslavsky along with Dr. Frank Chapman of the University of Florida and Mr. Gene Evans, professional aquaculturist, visited several aquaculture operations in Astrakhan (Russia), including Raskat and Karon-TM, and witnessed the caviar extraction procedure with the use of the life method, without killing the fish. They also observed the process of restocking the Volga River with millions of sturgeon fingerlings. During the visit, they learned a lot about sturgeon aquaculture and reproduction and shared their knowledge and experience with their Russian counterparts. Msrs. Zaslavsky, Chapman and Evans also visited VNIRO (Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography) in Moscow and CaspNIRKh (Caspian Research Institute of Fisheries) in Astrakhan and met with Russian scientists who specialize in sturgeon breeding and reproduction. Please click here to view photographs from their visit.

In August, Mark Zaslavsky went to Bulgaria and Romania and met with local farmers and businessmen who are involved with sturgeon aquaculture. He visited their operations located on the banks of the Danube River and was very impressed with the quantities of beluga, osetra and sterlet sturgeon fingerlings being produced there. With this visit, he laid foundation for future cooperation with aquaculture industry in those countries.

Last revised on 07/09/2007