It is great to see the rising interest in New Zealand to the Sturgeon Caviar - the world's most prestigious and nutritional delicacy.
As a genuine trading Sturgeon Caviar Expert, I repeatedly get the same questions related to Sturgeon Caviar from my customers, which prompted me to start the Caviar Expert’s column: Answering questions of Caviar Lovers and Enthusiasts.
And here is a very frequent question which I get all the time: Does New Zealand produce Sturgeon Caviar? I have
heard that there is a Sturgeon aquafarm in Rotorua.
My very concise and very precise answer: No, unfortunately, New Zealand has never produced Sturgeon Caviar. This is because Sturgeon species historically were banned for importation to New Zealand. Therefore, Sturgeon Caviar available in New Zealand is all imported from other countries. Moreover, it is important to note that there is the total worldwide ban on wild-harvesting and fishing Sturgeon fish because of overfishing. Thus, all legally imported Sturgeon Caviar comes to New Zealand from aqua-farms, which should be supported by the special certificate (CITES).
There are no Sturgeon aquafarms in New Zealand, not in Rotorua or elsewhere in New Zealand. There a myths and jokes being spread on Internet, especially on the 1st of April (Fool's Day) concerning some mysterious production of Sturgeon Caviar in New Zealand.
Another important nuance is that New Zealand does produce salmon roe and whitebait roe, however, none of those cannot be called 'Caviar' (salmon roe, for instance, is known as 'Ikura' in Japan).
In regards to Sturgeon Caviar in Rotorua, I am aware of one company that legally repacks bulk imported Sturgeon Caviar (Kaluga) from China into smaller packaging. However, this company is certainly not a Sturgeon Caviar producer, and repackaging in New Zealand does not change the country of origin, being China.