Is some caviar vegetarian?

Question

I know that the traditional method of caviar is to kill the fish and harvest the eggs.  However it's becoming more common for caviar farmers to either surgically remove the roe or strip it (almost like milking)

From a UK company called Mottra: "Once the sturgeon is about five years of age the caviar gets gently ‘stripped’ out of the fish.  It is then put back into the perfect conditions of the Mottra pools in Riga, Latvia where the sturgeon continues to grow and starts the next year’s process of caviar production. "

Now I'm not talking about the ethics of fish farming, just the simple logistics of how the eggs are obtained.  Wouldn't caviar from the company above or ones like it be vegetarian friendly?

http://www.mottra.co.uk/

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-new-black-can-a-revolutionary-sustainable-caviar-make-the-grade-1792118.html

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Just to make it clear, eggs and milk are vegetarian. Vegans don't eat them, but vegetarians do.
My mum actually asked me why I don't eat caviar, because it's eggs, I never thought about it, to be honest. I don't think I would eat it though.
But to answer to your question, if hen eggs are vegetarian, then fish eggs should be vegetarian too.

ideaguy83 · Answer

Technically there is no death involved so it may be considered vegetarian by a few vegetarians. Most, though, myself included, would not consider it compatible with our diets. The reasons are a) health - it is still an animal product b) ethics - it is surgically removed, it's not like a chicken naturally laying an egg or a slight pressure applied to an udder, it is traumatic. 

Luckily, for those who insist on caviar (although I've never liked it, so I don't care about this product) there is vegan caviar fairly widely available now through websites like vegancaviar.com which contains these ingrediants:

Sea Weed, Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Activated Charcoal, Starch, Calcium, Xanthan Gum, Black Caviar Flavor .

Grx · Answer

If you are a vegetarian who eats eggs, then yes, you can eat caviar, or any fish roe as it is one and the same.

Seriously, it is so very expensive so why would you want to even try it!

smedrik · Answer

I would not consider it to be vegetarian.

Gently vacuuming caviar out of a fish is still a very invasive process, although it is more sustainable than the alternative it still is far from ideal.

vdloco · Answer

No, since caviar is practically dependent on fish eggs

PeachGirl · Answer

If it's not killing the fish, then it may be considered vegetarian.

? · Answer

I just don't understand vegetarians.  If they will not eat an animal product, fine, that is their choice.  Fish ARE animals - so I don't understand why it is not ok to eat other meat, but it is ok to eat fish meat - it is still a living creature that has to be killed and eaten.

Fish eggs are still an animal byproduct like chicken eggs and milk - why is it ok to eat some animal products and not others - if you are vegetarian you shouldn't eat ANYTHING that comes from an animal, correct?

Then why bother because caviar, eggs, dairy, etc are NOT vegetarian.

This is why I am a meat eater - no confusion - I eat meat and I don't pick and choose what I would consider proper for my beliefs.

? · Answer

i suppose it would be up to you...some vegetarians eat chicken eggs, so i would think that if you eat chicken eggs then you could eat fish eggs? 

answer mine? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Amk4gHDWLG.lUuh4I.MewMXsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20100226172007AA5t7EQ

Andromache · Answer

I don't think there's any way to guarantee it?

HM · Answer

No. I don't consider any kind of egg vegetarian

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Is some caviar vegetarian?

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