Norwegian shipping, oil and seafood giant Stolt-Nielsen has reached a deal to sell its Sterling Caviar division to land-based bass and sturgeon producer Hyde Road Agricultural Associates, a source familiar with the sale told IntraFish.

Sterling Caviar owns and operates four white sturgeon farms in Sacramento, California. In 1983 it became the first commercial sturgeon farming operation in California, and has long been a part of the Stolt-Nielsen operation.

Stolt Sea Farm, the aquaculture division of Stolt-Nielsen, reported earnings in the red in the third quarter of this year, and announced that a sale of Sterling was pending.