STURGEONS' BACKGROUND
Sturgeons are prehistoric fish that have evolved over 250 million years. With some species weighing from 200 to 3,000 pounds, they are often called the "dinosaurs of the sea". They belong to the Acipenseridae and the Polyodontidae families. There are 27 species of sturgeons. Most of them live in salt water seas and spawn in fresh water rivers or estuaries. They exist in Southern Russia, Ukraine, and in North America. But now they are threatened.
Their biological characteristics make them especially vulnerable to over-exploitation. They take a long time to mature, ranging from 6 to 25 years, depending on the species. Juvenile mortality is also extremely high. Their necessity to live in both, fresh and sea water, also makes them dependent on cleanliness and responsible management of both. Similar to salmon, in order to spawn, each sturgeon returns only to the river in which it was born. This necessitates a responsible management of the rivers; damming and filling of the rivers needs to be prevented over their long life span.
Sturgeons are most threatened because of their flesh, eggs, and swim bladder. The meat is sold fresh, pickled, or smoked. The swim bladder is used to make an industrial product, isinglass gelatin. Use of the eggs for most of the world's caviar is the biggest threat to the sturgeons' struggle for survival. Over 90% of the international trade of caviar comes from threatened sturgeon species.
In North America, the sturgeons were exploited to near extinction. In the 1800s, 60,000 pounds were caught yearly in Lake Michigan. In 1910, zero pounds were caught because so few were left in the lake. Now, there have been reports of some catch in Lake Michigan and other North America lakes and estuaries. In Canada, sturgeon eggs are becoming a major industry- in the last twenty years sturgeon production has increased twenty fold.
In the Caspian Sea, where 90% of caviar originates, five out of six sturgeon species are endangered according to the IUCN (the World Conservation Union). Since the 1970s, there has been a significant decline in the Beluga, Russian, and Stellate sturgeons. From 1990-1994, there has been a 78% decline in catch. From 1978-1994, the sturgeon of the Caspian Sea has decreased from 142 million in number to 43.5 million, a 70% decline. Over-fishing for years is a major cause of this decline, exacerbated by the breakup of Russia leading to the poor management of the Caspian fisheries. Suddenly, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Iran were all competing for the limited supply of sturgeons in the Caspian Sea that was formerly managed by U.S.S.R. and Iran.
Thus, the wild sturgeon population is seriously threatened. Only three of the species are not critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. Although no species have gone extinct yet, many subspecies (remember, sturgeons are location specific for their breeding ground) have gone extinct. Detailed listings for the sturgeon by the IUCN (World Conservation Union) can be found here. Also, all 27 species are protected under CITES which limits to different degrees the export and import of their products internationally.
Yes, the sturgeons plight is a serious one.
Regulations are intact, but they are largely ineffective.
Your comments and suggestions on this document
are welcome. Please send them to:
Dr. Peter J. Bryant (pjbryant@uci.edu)
School of
Biological Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92717, USA
Phone (714) 824-4714 Fax (714) 824-3571