Fish products are increasingly being marketed and sold. One product that is surfacing at a high rate is caviar (fish eggs). These markets have the power to greatly affect the populations and management of Sturgeon species. Over the last few decades, populations have been decreasing at an alarming rate. With the demand of this increasing, supply cannot keep up with the demand. The overexploitation for black caviar coupled with climate change, has resulted in a “threatened” status on the vast majority of sturgeon species.
Due to the complexity of Sturgeon’s life history strategy, they are extremely vulnerable to exploitation. In some cases it can be 15-20 years before they reach sexual maturity. In order to conserve and protect these species, governments will need to work together and create regulations in regards to a rational harvests, preserving juveniles, and producing more of species. As a result activists are pushing for caviar from cultured resources, but the aquaculture industry will take years to be comparable with demand and will have to deal with the implications associated with captive sturgeon.
Sources:
Birstein, V. J., Doukakis, P., Sorkin, B., & DeSalle, R. (1998). Population Aggregation Analysis of Three Caviar-Producing Species of Sturgeons and Implications for the Species Identification of Black Caviar. Conservation Biology, 12(4), 766-775.
Bledsoe, G. E., Bledsoe, C. D., & Rasco, B. (2003). Caviars and fish roe products.
Cohen, A. (1997). Sturgeon poaching and black market caviar: a case study. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 48(1), 423-426.