A Typology for Investigating the Effects of

Sturgeon Aquaculture on Conservation Goals

Richard Apostle aquaculture might serve as a method for conserving
certain species. Sturgeon is one of the largest and most
Abstract valuable fish around which the debate has focused.
Caviar, especially produced from sturgeon, can be one
This essay will explore the impact of sturgeon aquacul- of the most expensive fish delicacies in the world. But
ture on conservation efforts by presenting a typology of the global hunt for sturgeon, particularly certain spe-
sturgeon aquaculture positions aimed at sturgeon preserva- cies discussed below, rapidly crashes populations
tion. The paper will also connect the primary types of when they can be identified and located. Further, the
sturgeon aquaculture to related research topics, ranging widespread involvement of organized crime in the
from global commodity chains to changing protein produc- catching, processing, and marketing of caviar adds
tion systems. [sturgeon, closed containment another dimension to what might otherwise be viewed
aquaculture] as a now-routine investigation of a collapsing fishery.
The classical account of sturgeon and caviar cen-
ters on the Caspian Sea and the various countries that
Introduction have surrounded it. Where medieval Russia (the Mon-
gols, under Batu Khan) may have been the original
Aquaculture has a deservedly negative image when locale for the development of caviar culture, the
questions of conservation arise in advanced industrial breakup of the Soviet Union has left five nations
systems. The focus on intensive aquaculture as a means around the Caspian squabbling over a much dimin-
of increasing protein production has led to a long list of ished set of stocks. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia,
criticisms, particularly for cage or net aquaculture. Sew- Turkmenistan, and Iran now regard one another with
age discharges and nitrogen overload, the impact of mutual suspicion over the management of the most
escapes as invasive species or in spreading disease, and valued species: beluga caviar ( Huso huso; large, char-
overutilization of fish-based meal are among the many coal gray); Russian osetra caviar (Acipenser guelden
legitimate concerns with the major forms of aquaculture staedtii; smaller, golden amber); and stellate sevruga
extant in the industrial world. On the other hand, it is caviar (Acipenser stellatus; smallest, darkest). Only
true that farmed fish can reduce pressure on wild Iran holds much respect internationally for its draco-
stocks, and may serve to replenish overexploited stocks. nian enforcement of fisheries law.
Sturgeon, as probably the most endangered fish species North American aboriginal uses of sturgeon were
in the world, brings the dilemma into sharp focus. As wide-ranging, including for easily accessible food and
aquaculture represents a major new food production tools, as well as for ceremonial purposes (Webb 2015).
system, the paper will assess variations in the system, European settlers made only modest use of sturgeon
and argue for the desirability of “second-generation” initially, but with both slavery and the arrival of 19th-
closed containment options. century immigrants to provide the brute labor required
by early industrialization, sturgeon meat, along with
Sturgeon on a Global Stage herring, became a staple food.1 Sturgeon meat was fre-
quently retailed as salt fish (as was herring), but class
The increasing threats to various marine species prejudices prevented sturgeon from becoming a wide-
have raised the question of whether, or to what extent, spread, cheap source of protein.2
Upper-class caviar culture, as opposed to lower-
Richard Apostle is an emeritus professor of sociology and social
and under-class markets in sturgeon flesh, spread to
anthropology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. He primarily
works in maritime social science. Western Europe and the United States in the late 19th

Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment Vol. 39, Issue 1 pp. 53–57, ISSN 2153-9553, eISSN 2153-9561. © 2017 by the American Anthropological
Association. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/cuag.12077
and early 20th centuries, with the American variant Nevertheless, the fact remains that aquaculture is
being concentrated on the East Coast. The caviar trade, “the fastest growing food production system globally,”
targeted at the American and European upper classes, one upon which the world will increasingly depend for
arrived in the late 19th century, and led to sturgeon its food. Of the top twenty-four species, harvested at a
population crashes, especially on the American East level of one million metric tons per year, fourteen are
Coast. Periodic revivals would lead to precipitous new primarily supplied by aquaculture (Diana 2009, 27, 29).
population declines. Saffron (2002) details the surges The FAO (2010) estimated that aquaculture would
and declines for the United States, particularly for the account for over one-half of global fish food production
Delaware and Chesapeake Bay, and other centers, par- by 2012. Others (Aquaculture 2013) project aquaculture
ticularly on the East Coast. The late 20th century, and overtaking beef, pork, and poultry production by 2050.
the collapse of the Soviet Union, facilitated the growth The only updated aggregate global statistics for
of a largely illegal trade in Russian caviar, much of it sturgeon are secreted away in “industrial reports,”
sourced from Russia. Saffron describes Soviet trade in some of which cost thousands of dollars, and others
caviar as a “sophisticated cartel” (Saffron 2002, xiv). The which are not publicly available. Even if available, their
Caspian supply, both production and marketing, fell data would have to be held in suspicion, given the
under the control of local organized crime. Carey cites a presence of so much illegal activity. There is some con-
US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) officer as saying sensus that China, France, Israel, Italy, Russia, the
“at least 70 percent of the U.S. trade in caviar was ille- United States, and Uruguay are the major caviar expor-
gal” (2006, 33), and then proceeds to document the ters, with Italy leading in the export of farmed caviar
criminal deeds of a variety of Russian or Russian-con- (Friends of the Sea 2015).
nected marketers (2006, 34, 45–46, 48, 49, 159, 290, 291).
The major ports of entry (by air) were New York and
Approaches to Sturgeon Conservation
Miami, with the USFWS successfully prosecuting some
of the larger criminal importers and marketers. The North American conservation debate, given
In response to the declining sturgeon populations, the limited sturgeon aquaculture in Canada, has pri-
and the increasing influence of conservation groups, a marily occurred in the United States. There have been a
debate began on the best ways to preserve sturgeon number of American positions developed concerning
populations, both in North America and on a global the use of sturgeon aquaculture as a path to preserving
basis. or restoring sturgeon stocks.
A hard conservationist position, the “preservation-
ists” (Carey 2006, 279), would like to shut down wild
Sturgeon and Aquaculture
sturgeon fisheries through the use of regulatory means
Sturgeon, especially the species sought for their (the Endangered Species Act [ESA], the Convention on
caviar, are threatened by all the usual factors: overfish- International Trade in Endangered Species [CITES]), as
ing, habitat degradation, pollution, and hydroelectric well as ecological restoration. This restoration would
dams which obstruct their attempts to reach breeding involve pollution controls, the construction of dam
grounds, as well as the lack of effective international “fish ladders,” or the outright removal of dams (partic-
legal regulation and the presence of organized crime ularly as renewal of dams is considered).3
looking for quick profits. Sturgeon aquaculture has A softer conservationist position, the “utilitarians”
moved to closed containment as a preferred production (Carey, ibid.) would look at regulated catches, perhaps
system, but the power demands of this system, as well “catch-and-release” rules (with all their problems),
as the start-up and operating capital costs, mean that along with the use of some types of aquaculture to
the products themselves must have high end consumer restock rivers and lakes. Within this soft conservation
markets (Apostle 2012). The controversy will continue, position, there are divisions between those who would
and perhaps intensify, as aquaculture advocates argue try to regenerate stocks by relatively unlimited use of
that other food production systems are at least as aquaculture for domestic species, and those who would
wasteful of energy resources and as destructive of spe- only use limited forms of aquaculture, in order to pre-
cies biodiversity. At this point, there is more serve the genetic diversity of the particular species. The
controversy than insight, as we lack direct comparisons soft conservation viewpoint seems quite consistent with
of the major protein systems upon which we rely. contemporary European views, as Europe occupies a

Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment 54 Vol. 39, No. 1 June 2017
position between North America and Russia/Asia in other rivers in Eastern Europe. Like Birstein, however,
the threatened status of their sturgeon stocks. Billard and Lecointre (2001) do see the need for some
Another position is the unlimited use of aquacul- “ex situ” conservation of species close to extinction, as
ture that would move quickly to restock the rivers of well as cryoconservation.
concern (Carey 2006, 19, 224). Perhaps the strongest Both in North America, and in the global community,
advocates of unlimited use come from areas in which there is a fourth position, one that basically abandons
sturgeon have become extinct or are threatened with efforts to preserve wild sturgeon stocks, and turns to com-
extinction. Russian scientists have, not surprisingly, mercial aquaculture and cryopreservation as the only
pursued these practices, as they have no effective realistic hope for preserving any sturgeon populations.
means to regulate fisheries (complicated by the Birstein, no optimist, stated: “Ironically, it seems that busi-
breakup of the U.S.S.R.) nor to control poaching, major ness interests, not international conservation efforts, are
forms of industrial pollution, or the effects of major providing the only ray of hope for sturgeon survival”
hydro-electric projects. Vadim Birstein, perhaps the (Carey 2006, 224). This position may be buttressed by the
expert on Russian and Chinese stocks, as well as stocks peculiar genetics of sturgeon, which are, in fact, polypoid,
elsewhere in the world, maintains that despite “the with chromosomes coming in pairs of four, eight, and per-
negative effect of captive propagation on the genetic haps 16, rather than just two. Carey (226, 245) quotes a
diversity of fishes,” captive breeding “is an important senior Russian Sturgeon scientist, Grigory Palatnikov, as
temporary measure” to preserve species like the large saying this peculiar genetic structure may “be a key to
Amur-Dar shovelnose, as well as Baltic and Sakhalin their remarkable adaptability and longevity.” The
sturgeons, and Chinese paddlefish (Birstein 1993, 772).4 increased possibilities for genetic variation may contribute,
In the most recent social history of caviar, Fletcher in the right circumstances, to greater species variations.
(2010) provides inconsistent comments on the value of This last position has also garnered support because
sturgeon aquaculture around the Caspian Sea. First, regulatory regimes have been relatively ineffective in
she acknowledges the negative genetic effects of the protecting wild stocks. Both Carey (2006, 270) and Saf-
Russian “mass production” system which was used to fron (2002) agree that CITES has pretty much been a
compensate for the impact of Russian dam construc- failure, dabbling around the edges of a much bigger
tion projects following the Second World War (2010, problem. Saffron is particularly withering: “CITES does
39). However, she also reports that Iran, even before nothing to stop slaughter or overuse. It merely makes it
the collapse of the Soviet system, was releasing “over more difficult to transport products across international
20 million sturgeon fingerlings to restock its waters.” boundaries” (2002, 187). And within the United States,
Still, Fletcher refers to Iran, prior to the 2009 CITES the USFWS botched a chance to come up with a decisive
ban, as “the largest producer of legal and sustainable test for caviar origins (Carey 2006, 112–16; DeSalle and
wild caviar in the world” (2010, 46), with no comment Birstein 1996; Saffron 2002, 194), a test that would have
on the genetic impact of the restocking. proven an effective screen for imported caviar.
By contrast, the “conservation aquaculture”
approach would use limited restocking to preserve
Discussion
genetic diversity.5 The Europeans note that sturgeon
farming has yields as high as the wild catch at the turn Sturgeon aquaculture in North America, particu-
of the 21st century (Billard and Lecointre 2001, 355). larly for white sturgeon in the western US states and
Thus, the problem is to maintain wild stocks, while British Columbia in Canada, gives us a relatively opti-
also utilizing aquaculture to both provide new wild mistic platform to evaluate the prospects for sturgeon
stocks. Billard and Lecointre (2001, 384–86)6 view stur- aquaculture as a path to sturgeon conservation. A num-
geon aquaculture as a “complementary conservation ber of factors favor the expansion of sturgeon
measure,” with the aquaculture carefully broken down aquaculture. Power costs are relatively low; a few ade-
into (1) a farming component, for caviar and meat, in quate pools of capital seem interested in the projects;
which “cultured sturgeons should not escape into the markets are well established; and the trade and fishing
wild,” and (2) a stocking component, dedicated to the regulatory frameworks, although spread across federal
production of juveniles from local stocks (carefully governmental structures and international boundaries,
specified) for return to the Gironde, the Po, and other still function more effectively than those in almost all
rivers in western Europe, and the Danube, Volga, and other jurisdictions practicing sturgeon aquaculture

Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment 55 Vol. 39, No. 1 June 2017
(Bielbin and VanderZwaag 2016).7 The Canadian west systematically, and which Western Europe and North
coast site does not take brood stock from the wild and America could extend to Asia. Since both the Canadian
uses waste materials as fertilizer for aquaponics. The and American white sturgeon sites maintain close ties
fact that the site employs closed, containment aquacul- with university researchers, they can contribute to the
ture also means it is a low risk to wild stocks or water development of these, and other, technologies.
sources. White sturgeon aquaculture, however, presents In conclusion, the turn to commercial sturgeon
some unique problems discussed below. It constitutes, aquaculture has some appeal in providing economic
in many ways, the toughest, and perhaps best, challenge incentives for preservation. The high capital costs and
to sturgeon aquaculture and its prospects for sturgeon relatively lengthy time to sturgeon maturation are
conservation. In addition, the vexing industrial problem undoubtedly problems, as is the species-specific
of dam maintenance and construction poses as big a knowledge required to succeed. But there are signs that
problem here as elsewhere in the industrial world. this route is beginning to succeed. Sturgeon aquacul-
Among the various conservation alternatives pre- ture is now a global affair, with major operations now
sented in our opening typology, the “preservationist” active in Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle
position does not look sustainable, both due to continu- East, and China (The New York Times 2006). Comple-
ing regulatory failures and the long timeframes mented by cryopreservation, the typology presented
associated with ecological restoration. For example, in here suggests there are a number of routes to see us
one reluctant acknowledgment of the utility of cryogenics through to yet another century.
by Rob Holm, the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery
manager, Holm said “[O]ur mandate is to prevent the
Future Research Agendas
species (pallid sturgeon) from going extinct. Cryopreser-
vation is not the whole answer, we need to restore In addition to conservation debates, sturgeon
habitat, which could take 60–70 years” (James 2011). aquaculture raises a number of related research ques-
While the end of the century may be a reasonable expec- tions. First-generation, open pen aquaculture has
tation for habitat restoration, given the growing concerns generated considerable hostility, with its water pollu-
over global warming and carbon emission levels, at least tion and disease circulation. The problem, for closed
one key preservation element, the removal of dams, containment aquaculture, and future alternatives, is
seems quite unlikely. Furthermore, with our industrial recycling cleaner water. Further, the global scale of
commitment to agribusiness, pollution abatement may the caviar trade, the increased presence of China in
be an ongoing problem. It is possible, of course, in more this economic sector, and the increasing challenges to
pristine areas, like the lake districts in the center of the free trade policies, suggest that caviar commodity
North American continent, that preservation may remain chains are fragile, subject to uncertainty and change.
a realistic policy, but these remain significant exceptions. These three factors have recently combined to force
The limited use of the “conservation aquaculture” the sudden closure of what appeared to be a sustain-
position has considerable support in both the United able closed containment operation in eastern Canada.
States and Europe, and will undoubtedly be pursued in In addition, caviar itself, as an expensive foodstuff, is
areas which have reasonable hopes of using controlled connected to elite taste and demand, with demand
aquaculture supplementation, as it has the virtue of pay- conditioned by business cycles. Caviar production
ing attention to the retention of genetic diversity. One also brings up ethical issues about orienting food pro-
still has to be concerned, however, with the long time- duction to upper and upper middle classes. Finally,
frames associated with genuine habitat restoration. the importance of both informal and illegal activities
The unlimited use of aquaculture in Russia and in caviar production poses research challenges, both
adjoining areas, does violate understandings regarding for appropriate research strategies and personal
genetic diversity, but it continues out of both economic security.8
and scientific desperation. There is little international
regulation can do to change these dynamics, but
Acknowledgment
Birstein’s (1993) request for international assistance
might alter some of the onerous regulations for the This work was supported by funding from the
importation of endangered Asian species. Cryopreser- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
vation is the other procedure Russia could use (SSHRC #871-2009-0001).

Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment 56 Vol. 39, No. 1 June 2017
Notes References
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Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment 57 Vol. 39, No. 1 June 2017