Happy National Caviar Day! While this is a day of celebration of our favorite food, it is also a day to raise awareness about the source of this delicacy: the many endangered sturgeon species around the world.

All 28 sturgeon species reside in the northern hemisphere, spanning from North America to the Eurasian continent. Due to multiple environmental and social factors, currently all sturgeon are listed as endangered by the WWF. 

For National Caviar Day this year, we wanted to highlight a well-known sturgeon, whose caviar we carry, and its plight in its natural environment: the Beluga Sturgeon.

Also known as the Great Sturgeon (Huso huso), the beluga sturgeon is not only the third-most-massive known living species of bony fish, but is also a pop-culture phenomenon.

Beluga was popularized in the James Bond films such as "Thunderball," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service, "and in the dining scene of the Titanic movie. Known for having large, beautiful, and flavorful roe, Beluga caviar stands at the head of caviar popularity. However, since the female fish takes about 16 years to reach sexual maturity, Beluga caviar is rare and difficult to produce. Modern farming methods have improved the availability of the delicacy, but it is classified as a critically endangered species by the IUCN.

Multiple factors contribute to this classification. One of which, overfishing, has prevented us from knowing the average and maximum lifespan of a Beluga sturgeon. From historical records and fossils, it is estimated that the sturgeon can live up to 100 years in the wild, but the current black market for Beluga caviar and meat has prevented any wild sturgeon on record from living more than 56 years, as they are caught for their eggs soon after reaching sexual maturity to meet an overwhelming demand.

Additional challenges for wild Beluga sturgeon arise with the construction of dams and other redirection of the waterways they make their home. However, to combat these environmental changes, there are many conservation efforts happening in historical sturgeon environments across the world. The farm that Pearl Street works with in Azerbaijan donates thousands (200k in 2022!) of fry back into the wild population to boost the abilities of the wild population to survive and repopulate naturally.