Demand for Nipissing sturgeon was predicted years ago by Roy Cockburn, of Sturgeon Falls, shown packing jars of caviar. Today, supplying gourmets both above and below the border is big business for Cockburn and others who have followed his lead to the sturgeon spawning grounds.

Lake Nipissing's fishermen are reaping a rich reward from the rubbery-looking sturgeon. Though Nipissing's piscatorial product finds little favour on the domestic market, Canadian sturgeon fetches sirloin steak prices in New York. And the fish is only a by-product. As caviar, the fragile sturgeon eggs are worth five dollars a pound to fishermen, and rival even the Russian product as choice of North American gourmets. Here, a lake fisherman holds a sturgeon which will be cleaned, weighed and crated for shipment to appreciative North American market.