Latin name – Acipenser baerii
Taxonomic Code : 1170100112 Production (EU-27) – Meat: 201 t (2007) – Caviar: 12 t (2007)
Value (EU-27) – Meat: EUR 0.9 million (2007)
Main EU producer countries – France (Europe’s leading producer of caviar), Poland, Germany
Main producer countries worldwide – Russia, China.

Local Names
ALBANIA : Bli turishkurte
AUSTRIA : Hausen
FINLAND : Kitasampi,  Beluga
FRANCE : Beluga, Grand esturgeon
GERMANY : Europäischer Hausen,  Hausenblase
GREECE : Akipíssios,  Mocuna
HUNGARY : Viza
ITALY : Storione ladando
NORWAY : Belugastør
POLAND : Bieluga z,  Wyz,  Wiz
PORTUGAL : Esturjâo do Cáspio,  Esturjão-beluga
ROMANIA : Morun
RUSSIAN FED. : Beluga
SLOVENIA : Beluga
SPAIN : Beluga ,  Esturión beluga
SWEDEN : Belugastör,  Husblosstör
TURKEY : Mersin morinası
UKRAINE : Beluga
UNITED KINGDOM : Beluga,  Great Sturgeon
USA : Beluga,  Great Sturgeon

Diagnostic Features

Spiracle present. Snout moderate and pointed, turning slightly upward. Gill membranes joined to one another to form a fold free from the isthmus. Mouth crescentic. Lower lip not continuous, interrupted at centre. Barbels oval or flat, leaf-like posteriorly reaching almost the mouth.  17-36 rod-shaped gill rakers.  D:48-81; A:22-41 rays.  9-17 dorsal scutes; 37-53 lateral scutes and 7-14 ventral scutes. Dorsal scutes oval, with a longitudinal denticulate comb. First dorsal scute is the smallest. Lateral scutes smooth. Ventral scutes hidden beneath the skin. There are numerous small bony plates between the scute rows.  Back ashen gray or black, gradually transitioning to white toward the underside. Belly white, and the snout is yellowish. 

Habitat and Biology

During the period of marine life, the adults mainly inhabits the pelagic zone descending at depths of 160-180 m. During both the seaward and the spawning migration, the beluga usually travels in the deepest parts of the riverbed. Juveniles during the first year of life remain in warmer, shallow habitats.The main food of juveniles appears to be insect larvae, especially of Ephemeroptera, crustaceans (gammarids, mysids, copepods, and cladocerans). Beluga begins preying on fishes , at a very early age (with a length of 24 cm in the lower Danube). Preferent prey items are Alosa spp., Engraulis encrasicolus, cyprinids (Cyprinus, Leuciscus, Scardinius, and Aspius). Marine fishes, such as Scomber scombrus, Trachurus mediterraneus ponticus and Sprattus sprattus are important in it diet between May and September, when the beluga are congregating near the coast prior to entering rivers; during the autumn and winter they descent into deep regions of the sea and feeds mainly on Mullus barbatus ponticus, Merlangius merlangus euxinus, Platichthys flesus flesus and Engraulis encrasicolus.

First sexual maturity is reached by the great sturgeon very late. Most males of the Volga population mature at 14-16 years; most females reach this stage at 19-22 years. Subsequent spawning apparently begins at least 5 years later. The great sturgeon spawn far upstream in all rivers. Spawning period usually coincides with a high-water period in spring and begins at a water temperature of 6° to 7° C, and it ceased when the temperature reaches 21° C. The spawning sites are usually in the river bed, at a depth of 4 to 15 m, with a hard, stony or gravelly bottom; the hatchlings at an early age travel to the sea. 

Market And Trade

Marketed sturgeon products vary considerably, according to the country. The fish may be sold live (between 1 and 2 kg in China), or whole, filleted, or smoked. There is a market for fertilized eggs and alevins for rearing purposes. Alevins are also produced for restocking (Russian Federation) and for aquarists. Finally, juveniles are used for the stocking of lakes for recreational fishing. Fish farms can obtain EUR 3–4/kg in western and central Europe for fish of a size suitable for human consumption, while in Russia and China the value seems to be higher (EUR 8–11/kg).

Status and trends

The international caviar market, estimated during the 1980s to be between 200 and 300 tones/yr, appears to have decreased due to a lack of interest on the part of air transporters. Competition between the various caviar producers will soon increase.

Main issues

The wide dispersal of the species has resulted in some animals escaping into zones that are far distant from their original habitat: the Baltic and North Seas, the Gironde-Garonne-Dordogne basin in France and the Rio Negro in Uruguay. It is interesting to note that, despite the intensive restocking that took place in some parts of the Baltic Sea during the 1960s, the species does not seem to have become established there; one reason for this is probably the considerable ease with which it can be caught.

The construction of dams, overfishing and pollution are responsible for a major deterioration in the state of natural populations, which are considered as vulnerable or endangered. Globally, most sturgeon species are threatened, and the Siberian sturgeon is no exception.

The Siberian sturgeon does not have a clear international market identity; it is in competition with other sturgeon species that have a greater growth potential and/or an established commercial image.



FAO. © 2005-2011. Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme. Acipenser baerii. Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme. Text by Williot, P., Bronzi, P., Benoit, P., Bonpunt, E., Chebanov, M., Domezain, A., Gessner, J., Gulyas, T., Kolman, R., Michaels, J., Sabeau, L. & Vizziano, D. In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department [online]. Rome. Updated 13 January 2005. [Cited 12 September 2011]. http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Acipenser_baerii/en

http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/marine_species/farmed_fish_and_shellfish/sturgeon/index_en.htm