Siberian Sturgeon Caviar is caviar derived from a species of sturgeon which is apart of the Acipenseridae family. It is most abundantly present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas. Often the roe of the Siberian Sturgeon is mislabelled is being “Osetra”, however, the Siberian Sturgeon is a separate species on its own. The adult Siberian Sturgeon usually weighs around 65kg, but size varies considerably from various river basins. The Siberian Sturgeon commonly lives up to sixty-years, in the wild, and don’t reach sexual maturity until 11-24 years for males and 20-28 years for females.
The Siberian sturgeon feeds primarily on a variety of benthic organisms such as crustaceans and chironmid larvae. Because of habitat loss and degradation, the population of the Siberian Sturgeon has been on a rapid decline. Due to this fact, the majority of all Siberian Caviar is the product of farm-raised Siberian Sturgeon with the main producer of Siberian Sturgeon Caviar being France. However, the largest producers of Siberian Sturgeon meat are Russia and China.
Siberian Sturgeon Caviar can be brown, grey, or black with a diameter over 2.8mm. The flavour is often described as being “pure” with a light after taste.