Uses
Globally, sturgeon fisheries are of great value, primarily as a source for caviar, but also for flesh.
Before 1800, swim bladders of sturgeon (primarily Beluga sturgeon from Russia) were used as a source of isinglass, a form of collagen used historically for the clarification of beer, as a predecessor for gelatin, and to preserve parchments.
The Jewish law of kashrut, which only permits the consumption of fish with scales, forbids sturgeon, as they have ganoid scales instead of the permitted ctenoid and cycloid scales. While all Orthodox groups forbid the consumption of sturgeon, some conservative groups do allow it. The theological debate over its kosher status can be traced back to such 19th-century reformers as Aron Chorin, though its consumption was already common in European Jewish communities. It remains a high-end staple of many Jewish delis and specialty shops.
In England, the sturgeon, along with whales and porpoises, is a royal fish, and every sturgeon caught in England is the property of the Crown.
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