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Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Odd-looking fish fill aquafarming wishes

By LYNN BULMAHN
NEWS-JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

DELAND — Four local teenagers come face to face every morning with a species of fish few Americans ever see.

They look “kind of like weird ... a mixture of a shark and catfish,” said Mitchell Lewis, 13. They are Siberian and Osetra sturgeon, flown here from Russia in a pioneering effort to begin raising and marketing the fish for its valuable meat and caviar.

And DeLand Middle School students Lauren Audoire, Chelsea Anderson, Ashley McGhee and Lewis are taking part in a groundbreaking educational project.

DeLand Middle’s research on Osetra sturgeon is the only one in the United States, according to their agriculture teacher, Gene Dulac. And only one other American school has had Siberian sturgeon to study.

The four “student research associates,” as their teacher calls them, are working with a local aquafarmer on the leading edge of a still-fledgling movement to raise sturgeon on U.S. fish farms. The sturgeon’s native habitat includes frigid waters but the species have shown the ability to thrive in warmer waters, too.

The students are taking care of young sturgeon at their school, performing such mundane chores as feeding and cleaning as the fish slowly grow to a marketable size. But what the students are learning is far more complex, as they also study the fish’s behavior and monitor water conditions.

The youngsters say few of their friends even know what a sturgeon is. And they admit the odd fish wouldn’t win any beauty contests.

“When I first saw them, they looked really different ... kind of like dinosaurs,” said eighth-grader Chelsea Anderson, 14. “They’re not slimy at all, but kind of rough on the sides,” added the Future Farmers of America member.

Gene Evans appreciates Chelsea’s tender loving care. Russia’s caviar production has plunged to all-time lows, and Evans, owner of an aquafarm in Pierson, is among the small group of American farmers seeking to raise the fish in captivity and market the high-priced product.

Evans said he believes farm-raising sturgeon in the United States is not only a potentially profitable venture, but may be the only way to save the species.

“The Russians began a good conservation program after World War II, but with the breakup of the Soviet bloc, all the regulations went out the window,” he said. The Caspian Sea is overfished and sturgeon is scarce.

Dulac’s students record their observations on sturgeon behavior and monitor pH levels and water temperature, data not found in textbooks. He said the youngsters first noticed how different the two species act. The Osetra are calmer than the larger Siberians, the students said.

Because the sturgeon lack teeth, “they suck, they don’t bite,” when they consume food, said Lauren Audiore, 13, an eighth-grade Future Farmers of America member.

Sturgeon normally live in very cold waters, where the surface freezes over ... But, “they’ll do very well in our (Florida) ponds, too,” Dulac said. “Research in Hawaii with Siberians proved they grow much faster and do better in warmer water.”Don’t look for caviar on pizzas in the school cafeteria anytime soon. It takes years for the fish to mature and produce eggs. In the wild, Dulac said, this usually happens when the fish are 12 to 15 years old. But in captivity, it has occurred at 5 years old.

Since caviar is so valuable, Dulac said some producers try to harvest it early. They surgically remove the eggs from a female fish, then return her to an isolated tank to heal. This causes a high mortality rate — about half die.

The meat of sturgeon is also valuable. Evans predicts it may fetch higher prices than farm-raised bass. “We’re about 10 years away from any meat production,” Dulac said, adding it takes that long for the fish to grow large enough to harvest.

Evans is optimistic though and believes there’s a market for sturgeon.

“The meat is similar to swordfish meat and is top quality and fresh, with no PCBs or mercury in it.” He said about 2,000 pounds of sturgeon meat is sold in U.S. markets every week.When the school received the Siberian sturgeon in March, the fish were the size of a man’s fingers. The fish have grown longer and heavier on a diet of feed made from grain, instead of the usual anchovies. At 30 pounds, they will be transferred to Evans’ aquaculture operation, where he already has some sturgeon between 5 and 6 feet long, weighing about 60 pounds.

The four student researchers aren’t sure what career field they’ll pursue. But if it’s marine biology or agriculture, “they know the procedures that go into research for this animal and those procedures could apply to any animal,” Dulac said.

Fast Facts

Sturgeon are large fish with a bony skeleton and hard, enameled scales. Lacking teeth, they suck their food.

Sturgeon usually live in the sea, but migrate into fresh water to spawn.

Sturgeon have been on Earth for more than 200 million years.

A large female can lay 3 million eggs, but breeds only every two to five years.

Sturgeon can live for more than 100 years.

Sturgeon eggs are known as caviar.

Russia formerly produced most of the world’s caviar, but production has decreased from 2,270 tons in 1981 to 120 tons in 2002, the latest statistics available.

Gulf and Atlantic sturgeon are considered endangered species.

In New York City, sturgeon meat brings $17 per pound; Beluga caviar brings $100 per ounce.

SOURCE: Gene Dulac, DeLand Middle School

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