Caviar Prices Soar as Russia Stalks Poachers

Russia is stepping up efforts to stop the illegal trade in wild sturgeon caviar, adding anti-poaching patrols and raiding markets after banning exports to save the fish from extinction, Bloomberg News reported. That's pushed the price of caviar from other countries to record highs. Harrods in London sells 50 grams of beluga caviar, the most prized variety, for $860, a 60% increase since October. The caviar is produced in Kazakhstan. Russian caviar sold abroad is illegal unless the container specifies it came from farmed sturgeon, Russia's fisheries chief in Moscow, Andrey Krainy, said. 'We don't export anything and won't be doing so this year, not a single egg,' he said.