Hot dogs and beer might not be the only culinary treats at University football tailgates this fall.

Doug Peterson, associate professor of fisheries and aquaculture in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, created a cost-effective and environmentally safe way to farm sturgeon. The caviar is harvested from the Siberian sturgeon, one of 27 sturgeon species worldwide.

UGA caviar? What’s that all about?

I created an environmentally safe and economical way to grow sturgeon and harvest caviar.

If we can grow sturgeons in a sustainable manner, then we can do a lot of good things for the agricultural industry in Georgia.

Why did you use the University logo?

A lot of people say, ‘why did you use the “big G” logo on the caviar?,’ and well, frankly, people at the University of Georgia have class, so it seemed fitting that the logo could help market a classy product. The product has nothing to do with football, though.

The athletic department just was generous enough to let us use the logo in support of our sturgeon research program here at Warnell.

Do you think that UGACaviar will become a new feature at tailgating parties?

That really isn’t our target consumer audience, but if they want it, then sure. But students can’t usually afford caviar – heck, I can’t afford caviar. It’s a rare and very expensive product.

What kind of reviews has the caviar received?

I wait for the experts to tell me about the quality, because I’m not a caviar expert. But all the reviews have been very positive.

Can we expect UGAChampagne next?

Well, we have worked closely with the UGA Food Science department. And they let us use their facilities to develop our caviar processing methods. As for the champagne … there’s no future plan that I know of, but, hey, you never know.

What happens now with the caviar?

Obviously UGA doesn’t want to build a giant sturgeon production farm. Our goal is to help develop the technology for growing sturgeon in an environmentally sustainable manner, and then to transfer that technology over to the private sector.