The substantial increase in charges left many residents financially burdened, as they strive to retrieve their stranded vehicles
For the past few years, UAE’s Bin Salem Holding and Germany’s United Food Technologies (UFT) — which is already producing caviar from farm-bred sturgeon fish — have been building the world’s biggest caviar factory just outside the capital, in the emirate’s desert.
“Etihad is proud of its reputation of carrying precious cargo and this now includes sturgeon fish which are on the list of global endangered species,” said Roy Kinnear, Etihad Airways’ senior vice president cargo.
The transport took place overnight in one of Etihad’s new A330-200 freighter aircraft, which provides state-of-the-art temperature control technology, to transport the endangered species. Each sturgeon was transported in a specially designed container in a temperature-controlled environment, which was always between 10 and 15 degrees centigrade. It took a lot of coordination and teamwork, but all 22 sturgeons arrived safe and healthy.
The size of 10 football fields, the new 60,000 square metres caviar farm is capable of producing 32 tonnes of caviar annually. According to Bin Salem’s calculations, in UAE alone caviar demand is estimated at 35 tonnes.
The news couldn’t be better for the gourmand cuisine industry since caviar demand is on the rise globally, while the sturgeon fish that produce it are gravely endangered. Around 90 per cent of the world’s caviar comes from the Caspian Sea, the main ‘traditional’ caviar producers being Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia. Yet, nowadays these countries can hardly harvest enough caviar for their own national demand.
Because of their long reproductive cycle, long migrations, and sensitivity to environmental conditions, many species are under severe threat from poaching, water pollution and the increasing demand for oil in the Caspian. According to international expert reports, over 85 per cent of sturgeon species are classified at risk of extinction, making them more critically endangered than any other group of species.
As a result, the production of wild caviar has decreased from 2,000 tons in late 1980s to 400 tons in late 1990s and to a minimal 11 tons annually at present. Even so, a return to the levels of earlier populations is unlikely.
Farmed sturgeon is now the answer for these highly demanded luxurious food and European factories like UFT have become increasingly good in the past decade at farmed caviar.
According to previous reports by UFT, Abu Dhabi’s factory is also planning an annual production of 450 tonnes of sturgeon, apart from caviar. Even farming of endangered local hamour is being considered in the near future.
The substantial increase in charges left many residents financially burdened, as they strive to retrieve their stranded vehicles
While parents acknowledge the importance of safety as a result of inclement weather, they also expressed disquiet about extended holidays
World number one Swiatek extended her run at the tournament to 10-0 as she brushed aside Briton Raducanu
The incident happened shortly after jury selection for the hush-money trial was completed
MS Dhoni's cameo in vain as five-time champions dealt thrid loss but hold on to third place in the standings
Roads and Transport Authority has been working round the clock to carry out maintenance work
Through this collaboration, Partisia Blockchain Foundation is set to discover and support the next generation of Web3 innovators
Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi reiterated the GCC's firm position supporting Palestinian people's right to self-determination and establishment of an independent state