Masago: What It Is, Nutrition & How It Compares to Caviar

Walk into any Canadian sushi restaurant and the bright orange “crunch” on top of your California roll is almost certainly masago, not the more famous tobiko (flying-fish roe) or actual caviar. Masago is the roe of the capelin, a small forage fish found in the North Atlantic and Arctic. It’s nutritionally interesting, modestly high in sodium, and has a real sustainability story most diners don’t hear.

What masago actually is

Masago is the harvested egg sac of the female capelin (Mallotus villosus), a finger-length silver fish that schools off Newfoundland, Iceland, Norway and Russia. The eggs are tiny — about 1 mm — and naturally pale yellow. The bright orange you see on the sushi roll is added food colouring; some restaurants also tint it green (with wasabi or matcha) or black (with squid ink).

It’s often confused with tobiko, the much pricier flying-fish roe that has a slightly bigger pop and a glossier texture. Caviar is something else entirely: salt-cured roe of sturgeon species, regulated under CITES, costing 50–100× more.

Nutrition per tablespoon (~14 g)

Per 14 g: ~40 calories, 6 g protein, 2 g fat, ~240 mg sodium (10% of daily upper limit), 16 mg cholesterol, 30 IU vitamin D, 0.7 µg vitamin B12 (a third of daily target), 70 mg omega-3 fatty acids.

It is high in protein for the calories and is one of the rare non-fortified foods with appreciable vitamin D and B12. The trade-off is sodium — a few tablespoons can take you halfway to the Health Canada Chronic-Disease Risk Reduction sodium target of 2,300 mg/day.

How it compares to tobiko, ikura and caviar

Masago: capelin roe, 1 mm eggs, naturally pale, colour added, mild flavour, $5–10/100 g wholesale. The Canadian sushi default.

Tobiko: flying-fish roe, 1–2 mm eggs, brighter natural orange, crunchier, $20–40/100 g, used at higher-end omakase.

Ikura: salmon roe, 5–7 mm jewels, bright orange, salt-cured, popped texture, $40–80/100 g, often the standalone star of a nigiri.

Caviar: sturgeon roe (beluga, ossetra, sevruga), CITES-regulated, $200–15,000/100 g.

Sustainability and what to ask

Capelin populations have crashed several times in the past two decades, most recently the 2024 Icelandic stock collapse that led to a complete commercial-fishery closure. The Marine Stewardship Council has moved capelin in and out of certification multiple times, depending on stock assessments.

For a more sustainable choice, ask your sushi restaurant whether their masago is MSC-certified or sourced from a current-year-certified fishery. Many Canadian wholesalers (Albion, Seacore) list certification on their product sheets.

If sustainability matters more than texture, a comparable visual on a roll can come from finely diced cucumber, sesame or smoked-trout roe (a Canadian alternative).

The bottom line

Masago is a perfectly fine sushi-roll topper with real protein and B12, but it’s salty, dyed and from a fishery that has crashed twice in a decade. Order it with awareness, ask about sourcing, and remember it is not caviar.

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