An Algarve-based caviar project has steadily and stealthily been developed at the Gambelas Campus of the University of the Algarve.
Successful tests show that the famous beluga and sevruga sturgeon roe - the most expensive in the world worth between €6,000 and €12,000 per kilo - can successfully be produced at an Alentejo-based nursery.
Sturgeon traditionally grow in cold water, but this is not always the case, "for most of the year our country has an optimum temperature for sturgeon growth," explained Paulo Pedro, one of the two project leaders of Caviar Portugal in partnership with the University of the Algarve. "It is during spawning than mature females need a period of hibernation in cold water," added the marine biologist .
The first aquaculture experiments in the Algarve have gone well and soon the company, set up by Paulo in partnership with Valery Afilov, a caviar-savvy Ukrainian who has lived in Portugal for 14 years, will see the opening of a centre in the northern Alentejo dedicated to the production of this luxurious delicacy.
In 2011 the project won a competition for new business ideas promoted by the University of the Algarve as the country was at the height of the financial crisis and there was little capital available.
The successful partnership soon will see the start of caviar production that in five years is planned to reach four tonnes from 5,000 fish.
