Sturgeon Aquaculture in China: status, challenge and proposals based on nation‐wide surveys of 2010–2012

At the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013, the authors conducted a nationwide survey of sturgeon aquaculture in China from 2010 to 2012. The survey results, combined with previous data, show that the dominant cultured species are Acipenser baerii, Huso dauricus♀ × A. schrenckii♂, A. baerii♀ × A. schrenckii♂, A. schrenckii, and A. gueldenstaedtii, accounting for 90% of the total production. Sturgeon farms have grown to include almost all provinces except Xizang, and are grouped principally in Shandong, Hubei, Sichuan and Chongqing, Beijing. The main culture systems are cage culture, and cement pond culture with running water. Sturgeon production rose from 34800 tonnes (t) in 2010 to 44500 t in 2012. The commercial sturgeon price dropped from 45 yuan per kg (5.5€/7.3$) in 2010 to 25 yuan per kg (3€/4$) in 2012. Nine caviar‐processing enterprises qualified for or were striving to process caviar, for a total production of 56.6 t caviar in 2012, of which 90% was exported. Major problems were also identified during the survey, including: disorderly hybridization and germplasm degradation; a stagnant domestic consumption demand; dramatic price fluctuations in different regions and at different times. Specialized sturgeon cooperatives had obtained government support to a certain extent, but did not use this to their advantage because of a lack of policy guidance and technical support. The processing of sturgeon products developed slowly. In view of the existing problems, certain proposals are discussed: publication of propagation standards, culture and processing to define the parental source of the commercial sturgeon and their by‐products; promulgate sturgeon consumption to expand market demand; establish a ‘Sturgeon Industry Association’ to constrain bad competition and cultivate good competitive mechanisms; build a protective pricing system to secure effectively the interests of some of the weaker farms; and conduct professional technical training courses on culture improvement and deep processing technology.