Caviar may be off the menu

Shortages are set to follow a United Nations ban on caviar exports until the countries where it is produced agree to protect sturgeon - the fish whose eggs are used for the luxury food.

The main exporters, countries that border the Caspian Sea, have failed to reveal how much sturgeon is illegally harvested, says the UN agency that controls trade in endangered species.

Last year Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan exported 150 tonnes of beluga, osetra and sevruga caviar from the Caspian. But, after the countries failed to comply with a conservation agreement that took effect this year, the UN has issued no new permits.

The move means the legal supply of Caspian caviar, selling at £893 for 500g in Britain, could dry up once the 2003 harvest is consumed. Prices are already rising. 'This ban will make prices go through the roof. I don't want to begin to think by how much,' said Shane Osborn, head chef for Michelin-starred London restaurant Pied A Terre.

'Unfortunately, many chefs have come to over-rely on caviar as a garnish or even as a "wow factor" to impress diners, which has led to people eating it in such an abundance.'

Chefs should educate people about alternatives to caviar, he added. Keta, made from salmon eggs, is three times larger and saltier but much cheaper.

'The same goes for avruga, made from herring roe and less than a tenth of the price of the real stuff,' he said.