A video demonstrating a method for harvesting caviar has left many social media users feeling uneasy.
There’s a saying: if you couldn’t kill it yourself, perhaps you shouldn’t eat it. Reflecting on this after witnessing the caviar harvesting process, many of us might think twice before indulging in those delicacies.
For vegetarians and vegans, it might be best to not watch:
Numerous videos have surfaced online displaying the process of caviar harvesting, and to be frank, they can be quite nauseating.
On Reddit, a user by the name u/jellylemonshake posted a video to the r/interestingasf**k thread, showing a sturgeon’s underbelly being opened with a metal tool, allowing eggs to spill into a bucket of dark caviar as a hand moves along the fish’s body.
The video is captioned: “Beluga Caviar, 1kg of which is sold for $7.500, is obtained by milking the sturgeon.”
Caviar Star, a website dedicated to the delicacy, explains that there are various methods of harvesting caviar, with two being the most prevalent.
The ‘classic harvesting method’ involves killing the fish, whereas the ‘no-kill’ method—shown in the Reddit video—entails extracting the roe before releasing the fish back into the ocean.
Eggs can be harvested using the ‘c-section method’, which involves making a small incision and carefully scooping out the eggs, or the ‘vivace method’, where an incision is made followed by a ‘fish-milking technique’—as illustrated in the Reddit video.
This process may also include hormone therapy to modify fish breeding reproduction techniques, facilitating egg collection.
One commenter noted: “‘And what do you do for a living?'”
“I’m a fish w*nker,” another responded.
Another user expressed discomfort, writing: “This makes me uncomfortable.”
“Wait, so they didn’t kill the fish. Which implies they just inserted a metal object and are extracting the eggs that way..? ….euhg,” added another.
Someone else remarked: “This is actually kind of sick that we’re doing this as humans.”
“Maybe we don’t need to do this then,” another suggested.
Finally, one user shared their perspective: “I’m not a vegetarian by any means, I do however always think about how id feel if aliens came down and did to us what we do to life on this planet.”
What are your thoughts?