Sturgeon History:

A prehistoric survivor of the ice age, Sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in the world, some exceeding 2,000 pounds! Ancient Romans thought Sturgeon an aphrodisiac with life-extending properties. Henry I of England declared it the “Royal Fish.” King Edward II was so devoted to Sturgeon he issued a decree that any Sturgeon caught must first be offered to the throne.

In 1609 Henry Hudson noted abundant Sturgeon in his namesake river, one large enough to sink a boat near what is now the George Washington Bridge. Throughout the 17th Century, Sturgeon was found in huge numbers from Alaska to Monterey Bay on the West Coast, in rivers throughout the East, in the Great Lakes, and in the Mississippi Valley. Sturgeon was so popular that in the 1830’s a canning plant in New Jersey built for the unheard of sum of one million dollars, processed more than a thousand fish per shift. Less than 30 years later, over-fishing killed the sturgeon and the plant closed.

Sturgeon remains scarce to this day.  A few farms experiment with Sturgeon culture but production is limited. The population of sturgeon in the fabled Columbia River Basin has strengthened recently by a resurgence in its popularity. Baby sturgeon or “fry” are released to “seed” the Columbia, and managed for long-term sustainability.

Looking like an aquatic dinosaur, the sturgeon may be one of the strangest looking fish swimming. But the lean, firm meat has a delicious flavor. It can be grilled, sautéed, baked, barbecued, poached or fried. It stands up to the boldest of preparations and is almost impossible to over-cook. Those who love swordfish but are concerned about its status as a nearly endangered species will enjoy the mild taste of sturgeon and find it an excellent alternative.

Sturgeon Facts: Tips for preparing your fish

Handled properly, sturgeon makes a superior meal — it’s excellent barbecued, baked, smoked, sautéed or deep-fried. Handled poorly, it can taste fishy and take on an old-tire texture.

The survivors of a variety of fish 120 million years old, white sturgeon are bony-plated, which requires unusual dressing techniques.

Most experts recommend that any sturgeon you keep be bled immediately by cutting one or more of its gills. Dressing a sturgeon is similar to filleting most white-meat fish, except that first the bony plates, or scutes, along its back and sides should be removed, along with the fins. This requires a very sharp knife to simply slice off the scutes. The head is then removed and the filets sliced out.

Then it is advisable to remove all of the reddish fat that lines the center of the filet. This eliminates a fishy flavor that some palettes find objectionable. Thus prepared, sturgeon meat has a mild flavor.  Click here to learn how to properly clean and fillet sturgeon.

The important thing about proper sturgeon preparation is that after you have cleaned or filleted the fish, the fillets must age for 48 hours in the refrigerator to achieve the proper texture and taste before cooking.  After a sturgeon dies, the fibers in muscle or meat of the fish, goes into riggers and tightens up and it takes 48 hours for the fibers to relax and become soft.  This aging period make all the difference in the world in the flavor and texture of the fish.  Some say that soaking the fillets in milk during this 48-hour aging period will make the flavor even more mild and delicious.  If cooked too soon, you will probably be disappointed.  If aged properly, you will be able to toss a fillet on to the barbecue and flip it with a spatula and delicately cut it with a fork.  The texture will be similar to a good piece of properly cooked Swordfish. 

Sturgeon smokes very well, being a slightly oily fish. It is also excellent thinly sliced, lightly breaded and deep-fried quickly — its dense meat tends not to flake apart like that of other fish. It often is thinly sliced or scalloped before sautéing so that it can be cooked quickly.

Sturgeon can be baked or barbecued, but it can get chewy if it is extremely overcooked or if it is cooked prior to the 48-hour aging period.  Some people take advantage of the texture by simply boiling sturgeon plain in saltwater and a little sugar for “poor man’s lobster.”

NOMENCLATURE AND TIDBITS
     — Don’t call them barbs or horns. Don’t call it body armor. The correct term for the bony bumps along the back, sides, and belly of a sturgeon is “scutes.” These scutes often catch fishing line and nick it or completely shear if off. This is mostly likely to happen near the end of a fight when the fish is brought into shallow water where it will roll vigorously.
— While sturgeon are called “bony fish” that is technically incorrect. Their skeleton is made of cartilage, like a shark. And like shark, the leathery skin if tanned in Europe and made into handbags.
— Sturgeon have taste buds on the outside of their mouths and smell food from the tips of the four barbells around their tube-like mouth, that almost seems prehensile. This means they can actually smell and taste your bait before they put it in their mouth. The goods news is that if they decide to eat the bait and you feel a bite, it’s time to set the hook. They’re probably not going to spit the bait out.
— Sturgeon are a very primitive fish, with fossil records that date back 175 million years or more. They are also prolific and long-lived. A mature female will lay up to million eggs or more when they broadcast spawn in rapidly-flowing water in river. White sturgeon can live more than 100 years and fish that live in saltwater, except for spawning, can weigh over 1,500 pounds, while landlocked fish will still weigh 300 pounds or more.