Sturgeon Information

History - Problems - Solutions

History

    The largest freshwater fish known are Sturgeon.  These large ganoid fish usually live in the sea, but they migrate into fresh water to spawn. They have long snouts and four sensory barbells near the mouth to aid in locating feed. A large female can lay 3 million eggs reaching sexual maturity in 12 to 15 years. However, they can breed only every two to five years. In some cases, Sturgeon live over 100 years if man does not intervene.

    There are 25 species of Sturgeon. The Huso is the Russian Sturgeon famous for caviar (Fish eggs). The popular Beluga can reach a weight of 2,000 pounds, but due to over-fishing, pollution, loss of spawning habitat, and increased poaching, you will not find a Sturgeon reaching this weight. In New York City, the meat from a Sturgeon sells for $17.00 per pound and the caviar from the beluga will sell for $100 per ounce.

    It is easy to see why American producers are interested in this market. The Gulf and Atlantic Sturgeon of North America will bring good meat prices but their eggs will only sell for approx. $20 per ounce.  

    The next species in value to the beluga is the gueldenstaedti or Russian Sturgeon as it is commonly called. The value of this Sturgeon varies in price from $60 to $80 per ounce for fish eggs.

Problems

The Atlantic and Gulf Sturgeon are an endangered species. They were over-fished and have not recovered. The final nail in the coffin has been dams that restrict fish movement to spawning sites and affect a decline in water quality. Government regulations, both state and federal, restrict research on these species. In the Apalachicola River, there are approxiamtely 200 fish.

Russia formerly supplied much of the world with caviar, but their fishery and research projects have collapsed due to economic and political turmoil. In 2003, American businesspersons gave economic support for research in Russia and in the United States.

    Sturgeon are now having feed conversions similar to catfish. They gain a pound of weight for every pound of the feed. They are exceeding those gains that trout and salmon once enjoyed.

  A unique problem we are still working on is captive environments that meet the needs of Sturgeon without causing injury. We are raising Sturgeon in ponds, tanks, and raceways that are circular in design.  The Sturgeon are called anadromous meaning they migrate from fresh to salt water. They join the North American Blueback herring, Atlantic salmon, American shad, and striped bass in this instinct.

    As it is their natural tendency to travel great distances, they do not react well to small tanks or ponds. In the wild, they have jumped out of the water and hit fishermen in boats. They have even broken windshields on local boats on the Suwannee River. In tanks, they do not follow the current or fight it. Most other species of fish go against the current. The Sturgeon has no direction to follow either movement.   When they swim and attack the walls of the tank, it can be fatal.

Solution

    The huso fish is making a comeback. One obstacle was that Sturgeon eggs had a poor survival rate in research facilities. Soviet scientists discovered that silt mixed with the eggs inhibits clumping and improved survival. They also pioneered the use of hormone injections to induce spawning. With the use of warm water and controlled diets, Sturgeon can grow two pounds in one year and up to eight pounds in two years. The sexual maturity that was from 12 to 15 years has been lowered to 5 years at the research facility at the University of Florida under the direction of Dr. Frank Chapman.