The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire.

THE PHILOSOPHER FISH: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire

RICHARD ADAMS CAREY

The cachet associated with caviar continues to grow. It sells for $100 an ounce, with the better grades going for considerably more. The price of this exclusive snack is fated to inflate yet more, as the sturgeon from which those coveted eggs come struggles to survive. Worldwide sturgeon populations have declined by 70 percent in the past 20 years, most drastically in the Caspian Sea. The beluga sturgeon is now ranked as I number four on the World Wildlife Fund's most endangered species list. It's an alarming distinction, given that the sturgeon is a living fossil, a status that comes only with surviving aeons of challenges. Modern forms of sturgeon date to 100 million years ago. Their family roots extend three times further back, which means that these ancestors swam the world's waterways before any dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Until very recently, sturgeons were dominant, large fish in every major river system on all three continents of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. In fact, Carey suggests that the Loch Ness Monster is or was a massive sturgeon--some of these fish have been measured at nearly 30 feet and weighed at more than 4,500 pounds. To protect the species, restrictions have been imposed against harvesting the eggs. However, as with any prohibition of this nature, a black market has evolved around the product. Poaching and illegal trafficking of caviar has become a small empire for the Russian mafia as well as other smugglers around the world. Carey details this development in the course of documenting the natural history of the sturgeon. Along the way, he also introduces readers to the scientists who study sturgeon as they struggle to save them. As he trots around the globe tracking caviar smugglers and the rapidly disappearing fish, Carey has managed to pen a nonfiction page-turner. Counterpoint, 2005, 333 p., hardcover, $26.00.