The United States no longer permits the importation of fancy beluga caviar from the Caspian Sea. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the ban as part of an effort to protect endangered sturgeon near Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan.
Almost all caviar is harvested from dead fish. Fishermen on the Caspian wait until the mature female sturgeon (which are at least 10 years old) are ready to migrate upstream and lay their eggs. Once caught, the sturgeon will be transferred to a large boat, where workers slit her open and remove her eggs. The caviar is cleaned to prevent spoilage and then packed up; the rest of the fish is sold for flesh.