Sturgeon farming produces caviar, one of the world's most expensive food products. The welfare of farmed sturgeon and the conservation implications of a trade linked to critically endangered wild populations deserve scrutiny.
Farmed sturgeon welfare involves the intersection of conservation ethics and individual animal welfare. The conservation case for sturgeon farming - providing caviar that reduces pressure on critically endangered wild populations - is real and significant. But the welfare of individual farmed sturgeon is often overlooked: these are long-lived, stress-sensitive fish that require careful husbandry, appropriate density management and minimally invasive egg collection methods. Traditional surgical egg extraction causes significant welfare harm and is increasingly replaced by hormone-induced spawning. The premium price of caviar should support premium welfare standards - there is no commercial justification for poor welfare in a product that sells for thousands of dollars per kilogram.