Two workers lift rainbow trout out of a

Two workers lift rainbow trout out of a pond at Noojee, some 135 kms west of Melbourne on June 26, 2008 as an Australian firm has developed a method of producing ecologically-friendly caviar that allows food lovers to sample the salty delicacy without it weighing on their conscience. Yarra Valley Salmon general manager Mark Fox said he pioneered the method of hand-milking eggs from salmon and trout in response to increased demand for an alternative to caviar from sturgeon, which is in danger of becoming extinct. The situation facing sturgeon is so dire that Russia this year proposed a five-year ban on fishing the species in the Caspian Sea to save stocks from collapse. Most of the world's beluga caviar, the most prized of the sturgeon caviars, comes from the Caspian, where it is traditionally produced by clubbing the giant fish and forcing out its eggs, or roe. AFP PHOTO/William WEST (Photo credit should read WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)