Sturgeon are among the world's oldest fish lineages and the source of caviar. Aquaculture has been critical to reducing pressure on wild populations, but raises welfare questions for these long-lived, slow-maturing species.
Sturgeon welfare in aquaculture is shaped by the exceptional length of their productive life in captivity and their specific ecological requirements as bottom-dwelling, wide-ranging fish. A female Beluga held for 10 years before first caviar extraction spends a decade in tank conditions that cannot approximate her natural environment. The shift to non-lethal caviar extraction is a significant welfare advance, but the technique still involves hormonal manipulation, handling, and manual stripping. Long-term captive management must prioritise water quality consistency, appropriate substrate for benthic behaviour, appropriate tank dimensions, and low stocking densities to minimise chronic stress over what amounts to most of the animal's commercially productive life.