Green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 12

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Special significance of the species

Green sturgeon are among the largest and longest-living species found in freshwater, living up to 70 years, reaching 2.3 m in length, and weighing up to 159 kg. Literally surviving contemporaries of the dinosaurs, green sturgeon are one of the world's most ancient species, having remained virtually unchanged since they appeared in the fossil record more than 200 million years ago. The rarity and reported disagreeable taste of green sturgeon has limited its utilization in Canada, with the majority of fish captured as bycatch being frequently discarded as unmarketable. However, there is a tribal fishery on the Klamath River in Oregon that has existed for more than one thousand years and is considered an integral part of the tribe’s culture (Van Eenennaam et al. 2001).

Sturgeon are of biological and commercial significance. Biologically they have been of interest to science because of their ancestry leading back to the dinosaurs. Commercially, they are valued to some extent for their flesh, which is usually smoked and brings a high price per kg, but more so for the highly valued caviar. Trade in sturgeon, their parts and derivatives is international and regulated by The Convention on International Trade in Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Caviar is the most valuable fish product in the world and suppliers will go to great lengths to procure a supply. Roe is worth up to $550/kg in legal markets (MD 2003) and processed caviar can bring well in excess of $1000/kg in the domestic market (CITES World 2001). Given the demand for caviar and the scarcity of the wild resource; such prices encourage the development and support of illegal practices, including poaching.

There is no information on the extent of illegal exploitation of green sturgeon, but poaching activity on white sturgeon in the lower Fraser River is a concern (Ptolemy and Vennesland 2003). Some recent investigations have linked sturgeon poaching to organized crime, and an organized poaching ring, known to be operating in the Pacific Northwest, has provided large quantities of sturgeon caviar to retailers, much of it marketed to the public as beluga caviar (Waldman 1995; Ptolemy and Vennesland 2003).