esturgeon

Old French esturgeon derives from Frankish *sturjo, from Proto-Germanic *sturjō, possibly related to the root *steur- meaning 'to stir, to churn.' The sturgeon feeds by rooting along the bottom of rivers and estuaries, stirring up sediment with its barbels to find invertebrates. The name describes the behavior: the fish that stirs the riverbed.

Sturgeons are ancient fish — they have existed for roughly 200 million years, since the early Jurassic. They are 'living fossils,' with bony scutes (plates) instead of scales, cartilaginous skeletons, and shark-like tails. Some species grow enormous: beluga sturgeons (Huso huso) in the Caspian Sea have reached 23 feet and 3,500 pounds. They can live over 100 years.

Caviar — salt-cured sturgeon eggs — has been a luxury food since the Persian Empire. The word 'caviar' comes from Persian khayeh-dar ('egg-bearing'). Russian and Iranian fisheries in the Caspian Sea dominated the global caviar trade for centuries. By the late 20th century, overfishing had collapsed sturgeon populations. Beluga caviar sells for over $3,000 per pound. The fish that stirs the bottom produces the food of the top.

Sturgeon were once abundant in American rivers. In the 1800s, caviar from the Hudson, Delaware, and Columbia rivers was so plentiful it was served as a free bar snack — like peanuts. By 1900, overfishing had decimated American sturgeon. Most species are now endangered. The Atlantic sturgeon was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2012. The bottom-stirrer has been stirred to near-extinction.