Rich Couples

Some 300 million to 400 million years ago, a funny-looking fish with a giant nose swam the planet’s primeval waterways. Today its female descendants produce some of the tastiest roe this side of Iran and are helping to jump-start the domestic caviar industry in the U.S. No, we’re talking not about sturgeon but about its cousin the paddlefish (Polyodon spathula). These fish live more than 50 years, grow to five feet in length, and weigh 60 to 100 pounds. Their long, thin noses protrude some 15 inches, making them look like Pinocchio’s prehistoric ancestors. But at least one entrepreneur has good reason to love these unsightly creatures. Missouri fish farmer Jim Kahrs will sell only about $50,000 worth of paddlefish caviar this year but expects that number to rise to $1 million by 2008. “I think they’re beautiful,” says Kahrs, 79. “But I’m prejudiced.”Kahrs is CEO of Osage Catfisheries, a 53-year-old family business that he runs with his sons Pete and Steve in Osage Beach, Mo. Like other small domestic caviar producers, Osage is thriving, thanks to a recent import ban on all caviar from the Caspian and Black seas, where most of the trade originates. The ban was initiated to protect the endangered wild sturgeon and is enforced by the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. As a result of the ban, much of the world’s best caviar can no longer be shipped to 169 countries - including the U.S., which once snapped up most of the Caspian’s production.

The company, which markets its caviar under the L’Osage brand, has won its way into high-end restaurants and was included in the gift bags at the Academy Awards. A few years ago famed New York caviar importer Petrossian even offered to buy the small company. Osage refused to sell. “We’ve been in business so long we thought, What the hell, we can do this ourselves,” says Steve Kahrs, 40.

Although paddlefish caviar might not be considered as luxurious as imported beluga (experts describe the paddlefish’s smaller eggs as similar to the lesser-grade sevruga), it has won acceptance among connoisseurs. “Several years ago I tasted paddlefish caviar but wasn’t blown away by its murky-water taste,” says Rick Moonen, the chef and owner of RM Seafood at Mandalay Place in Las Vegas. “Then I tasted L’Osage, and it opened my eyes to something different. There’s no funky water taste. The level of salt woke up the palate and was followed by an ocean breeze smell and a taste of nuttiness. It was really very good.”

Today an ounce of L’Osage caviar retails for $35, vs. about $240 for the same amount of Caspian beluga - if you can find it. Last year the Kahrs family produced about 100 pounds of L’Osage paddlefish caviar, up from 30 pounds in 2000. The retail value of Osage’s entire 2005 production was $56,000, a tiny fraction of the estimated $15 million market for domestic U.S. caviar. Osage has had to turn down business in recent months, including an order for four metric tons from a company in Japan.

While Osage may not have enough caviar to keep up with demand right now, Jim Kahrs hopes to boost annual production to 1,000 pounds by 2008 and to several tons in subsequent years. Meanwhile, Kahrs is working with the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the University of Missouri at Columbia to extract paddlefish collagen for use in the cosmetics industry as well as medical applications such as cartilage and joint fluid replacement. And the intricately patterned, sharklike skin could be used for “leather” products.

So if the Caspian caviar ban is lifted and caviar connoisseurs go back to enjoying imported beluga, perhaps the market will be flooded with new paddlefish accessories. Paddlefish purse? Remember, you read it here first.

source FSB

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