The study aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the market for sturgeon meat and other by-products and processed products from sturgeon.

Sturgeons are primarily reared in aquaculture to produce caviar. However, the economic viability of a sturgeon farm relies on the existence of a meat market. Depending on the species, it takes between 8-10 years for female sturgeons to reach sexual maturity. During this period, meat from sturgeon males is the main product produced in terms of quantity by sturgeon farms. Meat is still an important product for sturgeon farms once the stock of caviar producing females has been established. Around 20 tonnes of sturgeon meat are produced for each tonne of caviar.

Over the past 20 years there has been a steep growth in aquaculture production of sturgeons, driven mainly by production in China. According to FAO, world production was 4.100 tonnes in 2002, half of which took place in Russia and the remainder in the EU. In 2003, world production more than tripled when China reported a production volume of over 9.000 tonnes. In 2020, China accounted for 84% of global sturgeon production, followed by Russia at 4% (4.836 tonnes) and Armenia at 3% (4.200 tonnes).

Of EU MS, Italy is the largest producer of sturgeon. In 2020, Italy produced 1.051 tonnes of sturgeon, which was 19% lower than in 2019, but still 5% higher than in 2016. According to FAO, the value of sturgeon production in Italy in 2020 was nearly EUR 7 million. Over the past decade, Poland and Bulgaria have succeeded Italy as the second and third largest EU producers of sturgeon, respectively.

By-products and processed products from sturgeon are also traded globally and registered in CITES export data. In 2018, a total of 2.403 kg sturgeon by-products and processed products were exported. Most of these exports were extracts (38%), followed by cosmetics (20%), fins (16%), and derivatives (11%)

Sturgeon meat is dense and much appreciated for its firm, meaty, and boneless texture. Farmed sturgeon is a healthy product, as the meat is protein rich and low in fat. With proper management, nearly the entire sturgeon can be utilized for different purposes after slaughter.
In Europe, sturgeon meat is mainly consumed in eastern European countries such as Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia, and Romania. In China and Russia, it has been a part of traditional cuisine for hundreds of years and is still popular on the dinner table today

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The study aims to provide an updated and comprehensive overview of the European Union’s caviar market, focusing on production, extra-EU and intra-EU trade, and consumption.

The study is available in English.

Historically, sturgeons were caught in the Caspian Sea and their roe sold as caviar, mainly by Russia and Iran. The most well-known and high prized caviars are Beluga from the beluga sturgeon, Osetra from the Danube sturgeon, and Sevruga from the starry sturgeon.

Globally, overfishing of sturgeons has led to the near extinction of several sturgeon species. Since 1998, international trade of all sturgeon species and related products has been regulated under CITES.

Today, nearly all types of sturgeon caviar on the market are obtained from farmed fish. EU Member States produced 164 tonnes of caviar in 2018 (an increase of 12% from 2017). In 2018, the largest producers were Italy, France, Poland and Germany, accounting for 84% of the total production. The global production of caviar in 2018 has been estimated at 380 tonnes.

China is the main supplier of caviar to the EU market by a large margin, delivering between 65% and 84% of extra-EU imports over the past five years (2015-2020). The EU is also an important supplier of caviar globally: in 2019, extra-EU exports reached 68 tonnes. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the export volume decreased by 27% to 49 tonnes in 2020. Compared to intra-EU trade, Member States achieve higher prices when exporting, although prices fluctuate significantly.

According to EUMOFA estimates, in 2018, total EU apparent consumption of caviar was between 121 tonnes and 126 tonnes. Compared to 2016, EU production of caviar increased by 30%. France is the largest consumer market for caviar in the EU, followed by Germany and Spain. Other main caviar consuming countries include the USA, Japan, Russia, and China.

This report is an update of the first EUMOFA report on the caviar market from 2018. Then, the latest production data referred to 2016 and trade data referred to 2018. This updated report contains production data for 2018 and trade data for 2020. Since the release of the previous report, EUMOFA has expanded its international trade database to cover trade flows of fishery and aquaculture products from almost 100 reporting countries. As a result, this report provides more analyses of other regions compared to the previous edition.

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16 countries were attending the meeting where most of the European Aquaculture activities and challenges were discussed.
A presentation from DG MARE on outline of the new strategic Guidelines for the sustainalbe development of EU aquaculture was made by Mrs Lorella de la Cruz Iglesias, Deputy Head of Unit A2.

Consumer perceptions in aquaculture and the routes to action were presented by Dr. Sofia Franco, form the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS), both Tapas and Climefish projects were presented by Prof Trevor Telfer, Institute of Aquaculture University of Stirling and Anne Cooper presented how the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) can better assist the European aquaculture sector.

Fruitfull discussion on all issues took place within FEAP members.

The meeting was closed by a tour of the European Parliament and a visit of the sturgeon farm (Belgian Quality Fish / BQF) in Dottignies followed by a tasting of the ‘Royal Belgian Caviar’.