Farmed sturgeon are increasingly the primary source of caviar as wild populations have collapsed. The welfare of these long-lived, slow-growing fish in aquaculture systems raises important questions.
Sturgeon welfare in aquaculture is complicated by the extreme lifespan and slow maturation of these fish. Animals that spend decades in production facilities experience a cumulative welfare burden from confinement that is very different from that of short-lived species. The stress of repeated sampling and assessment over years in confinement imposes chronic welfare costs. Non-lethal caviar extraction methods, while welfare-positive compared to killing, still require invasive surgical procedures under anaesthesia with associated recovery stress. Sturgeons in RAS facilities show behavioural abnormalities including increased stereotypic movement that may indicate chronic welfare compromise.