Beluga sturgeon are farmed in recirculating aquaculture systems for caviar production, with specific welfare challenges related to their longevity, late sexual maturation and handling stress.
Farmed beluga sturgeon present unique welfare challenges related to their extreme longevity and late maturity. A sturgeon that spends decades in a recirculating aquaculture system must have adequate space, appropriate water quality and social conditions to support long-term welfare. Repeated handling for reproductive assessment and caviar extraction causes cumulative stress. The welfare framework for long-lived captive fish species is far less developed than for shorter-lived production animals and requires urgent attention.