White Sturgeon Caviar Case Nets 9 Arrests

Wildlife officials arrested nine people in Northern California on Thursday on suspicion of illegally possessing and selling white sturgeon caviar.

The arrests were the result of two months of surveillance in one operation and three weeks in another. More arrests might follow.

“We know there’s a lot more going on,” said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.

White sturgeon are prized for their eggs, or roe, which are processed for caviar. The fish, found in the Sacramento River and the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia River, can produce roe equal to 10% to 20% of their body weight.

California does not allow the commercial catch and sale of sturgeon. Fish between 46 and 72 inches long can be caught for sport.

Nikolay Krasnodemskiy, 34, of Sacramento and San Francisco residents Mark Golmyan, 54; Igor Donets, 55; Arkady Rubinshteyn, 50; Alexander Averbakh, 60; and George Buck, 33, are facing felony charges of conspiring to buy and sell the fish.

Krasnodemskiy, who Martarano said was “sort of the mastermind,” was allegedly selling caviar for up to $140 a pound.

Golmyan, who owns and operates a deli in San Francisco, was selling the caviar for $15.99 per ounce, and the others were selling it out of their homes for up to $140 a pound, authorities said.

In Sacramento, three people are facing misdemeanor charges for the illegal commercialization of white sturgeon: Vasily Agapov, 41; Pavel Kalinovskiy, 34; and Oleg Beknazarov, 32.