A humane approach to producing salmon and trout roe

By Nick Gorman, Co-Founder of Yarra Valley Caviar

Yarra Valley Caviar is making a name for itself as the producer of the finest quality salmon roe in the world. A company renowned not just for its premium food products loved by high end chefs and fine food outlets, but as an industry leader, pioneering the natural approach to rearing and roe extraction through sustainable practices and the humane treatment of its fish.

The company was founded on the belief that humane practices are a necessity to ensure fish are treated with the utmost care and respect, underpinned by the knowledge that this approach also results in a product with superior flavour and quality.

Though new to the UK and Europe, Yarra Valley’s sustainably grown roe is already demonstrating globally why it is so special. The brand is setting a whole new benchmark in terms of quality, consistency of size of the pearls with extraordinary purity of flavour. This is all part of Yarra Valley Caviar’s mission to raise the bar for salmon roe the world over.  

Unlike the cheaper mass-produced roe, predominantly by-products from the wild salmon fisheries in North America, Yarra Valley Caviar uses a bespoke breed of Atlantic salmon, purely bred to be humanely hand-harvested once a year, creating bright, plump and flawless pearls.

Nick Gorman, co-owner of Yarra Valley Caviar explains more about his farm’s sustainable and ethical processes: “In reference to how we treat our salmon humanely, in a sense, the fish husbandry begins as soon as we fertilise the eggs and they begin to develop and hatch into what we call Alevins. From this stage they progress to fry, parr and smolt and then sexually mature at three years.

He continues: “During this initial phase of their life cycle, they are given around the clock care and attention. At Yarra Valley Caviar we pride ourselves in providing our fish with everything they need to thrive, including clean, well oxygenated water and space, which is very important. The fish need room to move freely without overcrowding, as well as a current to swim against and a safe environment free from predators.

“Diet is critical too; our salmon need a nominal diet. We never force feed; we simply ensure a consistent supply of food that allows them to develop at a similar rate as to how they’d grow in nature.

“All of these simple measures allow us to produce without the addition of anti-biotics and provide a disease-free environment for our salmon.”

When it is time to harvest, Yarra Valley Caviar is only ever hand-harvested, a practice driven by Nick and his company’s principled stance to treat its salmon as humanely as possible during the extraction process. As the salmon are never harmed, they will live for many years, meaning that sustainability is a positive consequence of the company’s ethos.

Nick explains more: “During harvest all staff are pre-trained on how to handle live salmon. Fish are netted from the pond then anesthetised using a natural clove oil to reduce stress before the egg is gently massaged from the belly.

“This entire process is completed within a minute before the fish is then placed back in an oxygen rich environment to recover. Once they’re observed to be fully recovered they are returned to the pond. Every care and attention is taken to ensure the fish is as calm and comfortable as possible.”

In addition to the benefits to the animal, Nick stresses that this process also leads to an improvement in taste, texture and quality of the product.

He shares: “We believe by allowing the egg to mature naturally in the fish and not removing it prematurely by killing the fish, the quality of the egg is at its most optimum. A perfect pop. The addition of three percent salt during processing results in a beautiful salty clean flavour that just can’t be achieved with other methods.”

In addition to salmon roe, Yarra Valley Caviar also produces and harvests rainbow trout and brook trout roe for their caviar range. The brand is fully certified in the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), a seafood specific certification programme that addresses the four key areas of sustainability—environmental, social, food safety, plus animal health and welfare —at each step of the aquaculture production chain. As well as implementing its own sustainable growing practices for the last 20 years to ensure it limits any damage to the environment during the farming and production process.

Following an official launch in Harrods in April 2024, marking an exclusive ‘first-in-Europe’ retail partnership, the premium seafood supplier has also since announced online listings at Fine & Wild, one of the UK’s leading independent fine food retailers, meaning that consumers across the UK are now able to access its award-winning products.

It is already the salmon roe of choice for leading restaurants worldwide, including Michelin starred Bobby Bräuer’s EssZimmer by Käfer in Germany (two stars), Dominik Sato and Fabio Toffolon’s The Japanese in Switzerland (two stars) and Dieter Koschina’s Vila Joya in Portugal.