They speculate that some paddlefish may have eluded the research team, avoiding its nets and capture methods.

BBC: Earth News - Giant fish 'verges on extinction'

However the team need to find live paddlefish in order to be able to start this process.

BBC: Earth News - Giant fish 'verges on extinction'

Professor Wei also thinks that some younger, smaller paddlefish may also still exist.

BBC: Earth News - Giant fish 'verges on extinction'

From the middle of last century the population of Chinese paddlefish has declined rapidly due to overfishing, habitat degradation and pollution.

BBC: Earth News - Giant fish 'verges on extinction'

Your taste buds might confuse paddlefish roe from the limestone springs of Kentucky for fine sevruga, but how long will it take before your romantic prejudices allow your brain to accept the information?

FORBES: Roe Rage

"The individuals born in the late 1980s and early 1990s should survive in the wild, since the Yangtze river system is large and it has some complicated habitats where the paddlefish could hide, " he says.

BBC: Earth News - Giant fish 'verges on extinction'

Even with our potentially top player on injured reserve (the Atlantic sturgeon is currently under a commercial fishing ban), companies like Sterling, Tsar Nicoulai and Seattle Caviar are offering subtle, very caviary-tasting roe from the Pacific Coast white sturgeon, the lake sturgeon of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, and even from the oddly abundant paddlefish, a distant sturgeon cousin.

FORBES: Roe Rage