The Beluga Sturgeon is a large and long-living species of freshwater fish that is native to the temperate waters of the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Although the Beluga Sturgeon shares it's name with the more famous Beluga Whale, the two species are unrelated with the name Beluga coming from the Russian word for white.
The Beluga Sturgeon is the largest species of freshwater fish in the world with some individuals growing more than 7 meters long and weighing nearly 1.5 tons. They are also able to live for more than 100 years but this means that they are slow-maturing and often won't reach sexual maturity until they are in their twenties.

Selling for an average of 7,000 USD per kilo, Beluga Sturgeon caviar is highly sought after but sadly their meat is not, meaning that these freshwater giants are simply killed for their eggs. It is the exploitation of the Beluga Sturgeon for caviar that has led to a decline of more than 90% in it's population numbers since 1950.
