The Ultimate Guide to Beluga Caviar

Beluga (Huso huso) sturgeon caviar is the most desired and expensive caviar in the world. Known for its incredible taste, colours, and texture, it's the Ferrari of fish eggs.

Wild beluga is critically endangered, so catching it and trading wild beluga caviar is banned or tightly restricted. Farmed beluga caviar, on the other hand, is legal and sold in most of the world, including Canada.

In this article, we dive into everything there is to know about Huso huso caviar, from where it comes from and how it tastes to why a kilogram of the rarest kind can sell for over US$34,000.

What is Beluga Caviar?

Beluga caviar is the salt-cured eggs of the Huso huso sturgeon, also known as the great sturgeon (pictured below).

The Huso huso sturgeon eggs are extracted from a female before she is ready to spawn. The eggs are then separated, rinsed, graded and cured with a little salt before being rested and packed for consumption.

The eggs are large and typically range from light grey to steel grey, although some can be a darker colour resembling black.

Why is it called beluga? The name comes from the Russian word beluga, from belyi, meaning "white", a nod to the fish's pale colouring. The beluga whale's name has the same root, which is where the mix-up begins.

Beluga vs Sturgeon Caviar

Huso huso (beluga) is sturgeon caviar. The beluga sturgeon is one of the 25 or so species of sturgeons. The main difference between beluga and other sturgeon caviar is the size, texture and taste of the eggs. Beluga eggs are also rarer and more in demand than any other sturgeon caviar.

Its closest relative, Kaluga, sometimes called "river beluga" because it lives in the Amur River, is the most similar, while Osetra offers a nuttier, firmer alternative. Here is how they compare:

For a full head-to-head, see Beluga vs. Ossetra, and for every other species, our guide to the different types of caviar.

What Animal Does Beluga Caviar Come From?

Beluga caviar comes from a fish called the sturgeon. More specifically, the beluga (Huso huso) sturgeon species only.

This critically endangered species is the largest sturgeon and the largest freshwater fish in Europe. It commonly reaches about 2 m (7 ft), and historical records describe giants of up to 8 m and over 3 tonnes. It is also one of the longest-lived fish on earth.

Source: FishBase species summary for Huso huso; IUCN Red List.

Beluga Fish Caviar

Many of our readers regularly ask us what fish does beluga caviar come from?

Beluga fish caviar is the fish eggs of the beluga sturgeon. All real caviar comes from the sturgeon family, but beluga caviar comes from the beluga species in particular, pictured below in the wild. A mature female carries a huge amount of roe: in sturgeon, the ovaries can make up 15 to 25 percent of a female's body weight.

Beluga Whale Caviar

While the name "beluga" is typically associated with a type of whale, some of you may wonder if beluga caviar comes from the beluga whale.

As adorable as whale eggs would be, beluga caviar is not whale eggs. As a matter of fact, whales are mammals (like humans): they give birth to live young and don't lay eggs.

That being said, beluga whale caviar doesn't exist, and if anyone tries to sell you some, stay clear.

What is the Price of Beluga Caviar?

One of the most popular questions we get from our readers is how much is beluga caviar? Once that question is answered, they wonder, why is beluga caviar so expensive?

Beluga caviar is the most expensive out of all the different types of sturgeon caviar. Prices vary a lot from one country to the next, and smaller tins cost more per gram than large ones. Here is what farmed beluga caviar costs per kilogram around the world:

CaviarHub survey of online retailers, prices checked in October 2026. Ranges cover small to large tins of farmed Huso huso. CAD conversions use Bank of Canada rates of October 9, 2026; the dirham is pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Two things stand out. Prices swing the most within Europe: many sellers offer farmed beluga for about €2,500 to €3,500 per kilogram, the cheapest anywhere, while famous caviar houses start around €6,500 for their standard beluga and go past €13,000 (about CA$20,800) for their top grades. And purebred beluga costs three to four times more in the U.S. than in Canada, because it can't be imported there and comes from a single domestic farm. In Canada, our own beluga caviar sells for about CA$6,400 to CA$7,900 per kilogram depending on the tin size, in line with the Canadian market.

At the very top of the market, Almas caviar from rare albino beluga has been sold for about £20,000 (US$34,500) per kilogram, according to Guinness World Records. For the reasons behind the price, see why beluga caviar is so expensive.

What Does Beluga Caviar Taste Like?

Huso huso sturgeon caviar has a creamy, buttery taste that is lightly salted, with a gentle sweetness and a clean sea-salt finish. This type of caviar has a very faint taste of fish.

The large, soft pearls melt on the tongue rather than pop, and the flavour is milder and more enveloping than Osetra. Serve it on its own, on a blini or on buttered toast, with a non-metallic spoon, so nothing masks its delicate taste. For more, see what caviar tastes like.

Where Can You Buy Beluga Roe?

Depending on where you live, beluga caviar can be bought from specialty stores, fine fishmongers and online caviar shops, and what you can buy depends heavily on the country. If you are in Canada, see our guide to where to buy caviar in Canada.

Buying Huso huso Caviar in the U.S.

Beluga caviar is available in the United States, but the market works differently. Since 2005, beluga caviar cannot be imported into the U.S., so purebred beluga sold there is farmed domestically: a farm in Florida, which imported its first young beluga before the ban, received the first U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service exemption in 2016 and has sold U.S.-farmed beluga caviar since 2020. With a single domestic source, supply is limited and prices are high.

Most imported caviar sold as "beluga" in the U.S. is a beluga hybrid, such as a cross between beluga and another sturgeon. Some of it is actually Kaluga, Beluga's closest relative, which is often marketed as "river beluga". Osetra is another popular alternative.

Buying Beluga Caviar in Canada and in Europe

In Canada and in Europe, farmed beluga caviar is legal and easy to find, provided it is traded with the proper CITES permits and each tin carries a CITES label. You can buy it at specialty shops and online stores, and we ship it refrigerated from Montreal across Canada.

Travelling with caviar? The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says sturgeon caviar over 250 g requires a CITES permit when you bring it into Canada. Under CITES, many other countries allow up to 125 g per person without a permit.

Is Beluga Caviar Illegal?

International trade in all sturgeon is regulated under CITES. Exports of wild beluga caviar from the Caspian and Black Sea were suspended in the mid-2000s, and today the legal market is supplied by farms. Each tin's CITES code shows the species, the source (C for captive-bred, W for wild) and the country of origin.

Why is Huso huso Caviar Illegal and Banned in the U.S.?

Beluga caviar is not banned outright in the U.S. What is restricted is importing it. The United States listed the beluga sturgeon as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2004, and in 2005 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suspended beluga caviar imports to protect the remaining wild population after decades of overfishing and poaching.

Since then, the rules have made room for domestic farming. In 2016, a beluga farm in Florida received the first exemption to sell its caviar, and U.S.-farmed beluga has been on sale since 2020. Imported "beluga" in the U.S. is usually a hybrid. So in practice, Americans can buy legal beluga caviar; it is simply farmed at home rather than imported.

Pollution, dams that block spawning rivers and the loss of natural habitat also slowed reproduction, while demand kept rising. Today, the IUCN lists the beluga as critically endangered.

Where Does Beluga Caviar Come From?

Beluga caviar comes from the female beluga sturgeon, a fish, not a whale, and today it is almost always farmed. Here is where the species comes from, and where its caviar is produced now.

Geographically speaking, wild beluga sturgeons come from the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, however, the majority of the product on the market is now farmed.

Wild Huso huso Caviar

Wild Huso huso sturgeon is native to the Caspian, Black and Azov Sea basins, where it swims up large rivers such as the Volga and the Danube to spawn. It once lived in the Adriatic too, but has disappeared from there. These seas sit at the crossroads of Eastern Europe, Western Asia, southern Russia and the northern Middle East.

Russia is the only country with shorelines on both the Caspian and the Black Sea, which explains why beluga caviar is so often associated with it.

The two seas border a total of 10 countries:

• Caspian Sea: Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan
• Black Sea: Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine

Aquaculture (Farmed) Beluga Caviar

The beluga caviar enjoyed today is farmed, because the species is critically endangered in the wild. Beluga is one of the hardest sturgeons to farm: it is the largest and one of the slowest to mature, so a farm may raise a female for many years before her first harvest.

Beluga is farmed across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, where China is now the world's largest caviar producer. Our beluga caviar comes from sustainable farms in Italy. Every legal tin carries a CITES code that identifies the species, whether it was farmed and its country of origin (see how to read a caviar tin label).

Is Beluga Caviar from Russia?

Wild beluga caviar was heavily exported from Russia and the other Caspian countries until the species became critically endangered and international trade was suspended. The beluga caviar sold today is not wild Russian caviar, but farmed caviar from around the world.

Black Beluga Caviar & Other Colors

Contrary to common belief, purebred beluga caviar isn't actually black. It is most commonly light to steel grey, and it can take on a darker shade, close to charcoal.

Many hybrids, such as beluga crossbreeds, can be very dark or black in colour. Several other types of sturgeon caviar, such as Siberian, White Sturgeon and Adriatic, are typically darker, from dark grey to black. For every colour of caviar, see is caviar always black?

Interestingly, albino beluga sturgeons produce pale, ivory to golden caviar known as Almas, from the word for "diamond". It is one of the rarest caviars in existence.

Albino (Almas) Beluga Caviar

Albino beluga sturgeons lack the dark pigment of a normal beluga, so their eggs are pale, from ivory to light gold. According to Guinness World Records, Almas caviar comes from rare albino Huso huso sturgeon between 60 and 100 years old, from the southern Caspian Sea off Iran.

Guinness lists it as the most expensive caviar, regularly sold for about £20,000 (US$34,500) per kilogram. Because wild albinos are so rare, a few farms now keep albino sturgeon, but their caviar remains extremely limited.

How is Huso huso Caviar Harvested?

Harvesting caviar is a long and careful process. Essentially, it involves taking the eggs from the female when they are mature, just before she would spawn. On farms, each female is checked, often by ultrasound, to time the harvest precisely.

The eggs are most commonly harvested by humanely killing the fish and removing the roe sac. Some farms also use no-kill methods:

• Milking (stripping): the female is given a hormone that triggers the release of the eggs, which are then gently massaged out, and the fish is returned to the water.
• C-section: the eggs are removed surgically and the fish is stitched up. It is more delicate and carries a risk of infection.

Once harvested, the eggs are separated from the membrane, rinsed, graded by size and colour, lightly salted (the malossol style) and packed into tins.

How Long Does Beluga Caviar Last?

As we explain in our guide to storing caviar, the beluga caviar we sell is pasteurized and keeps for up to 5 months sealed in the coldest part of the fridge. Always go by the best-before date on the tin.

Pasteurization is a gentle heat treatment that extends shelf life. In many other countries, especially in Europe, caviar is commonly sold unpasteurized, and a sealed tin then keeps for about 1 to 2 months. Wherever you buy it, follow the date on the tin.

Once opened, keep it refrigerated and enjoy it within about 48 hours. Never leave caviar out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Freezing is safe but changes the texture, so treat it as a last resort.

Beluga Caviar Nutrition Facts

Caviar is quite a nutritious food, some might even consider it a superfood. Sturgeon eggs are packed with protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. Here is what a 28 g (1 oz) portion of caviar contains, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

Source: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), "Fish, caviar, black and red, granular", scaled to 28 g. The USDA does not list beluga separately, so values for beluga will differ slightly.

Caviar also contains vitamins A, D and E and minerals such as magnesium and zinc. Because it is eaten in small amounts, it adds plenty of nutrients without many calories, but it is high in salt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does beluga caviar come from beluga whales?

No. Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, a fish. Beluga whales are mammals: they give birth to live calves and do not lay eggs, so there is no such thing as whale caviar.

Why is it called beluga caviar?

The name comes from the beluga sturgeon, whose Russian name comes from belyi, meaning "white", after the fish's pale colouring. The beluga whale shares the same root, which causes the confusion.

Is beluga caviar legal in Canada?

Yes. Farmed beluga caviar is legal in Canada when it is imported with CITES permits and labelled with a CITES code. Travellers need a CITES permit to bring in more than 250 g of sturgeon caviar.

Is beluga caviar illegal in the U.S.?

No. Beluga caviar cannot be imported into the U.S., but purebred beluga farmed in Florida has been sold legally since 2020, and imported beluga hybrids are widely available. Only wild beluga caviar is off-limits.

How much does beluga caviar cost?

In Canada, farmed beluga caviar typically costs about CA$5,600 to CA$8,300 per kilogram (October 2026). It is cheaper in Europe and much more expensive in the U.S., where purebred beluga comes from a single domestic farm. Rare albino Almas caviar has sold for about US$34,500 per kilogram.

What colour is beluga caviar?

Beluga caviar ranges from light to steel grey and can be darker, close to charcoal. Rare albino beluga produces ivory to golden caviar, known as Almas.

How big is a beluga sturgeon?

The beluga is the largest sturgeon. It commonly reaches about 2 m, and historical records describe fish up to 8 m long and over 3 tonnes. It can live for more than 100 years.

Where do albino beluga sturgeon live?

Wild albino beluga are extremely rare. Almas caviar is traditionally associated with albino beluga from the southern Caspian Sea, off Iran, and a few farms now keep albino sturgeon.

What does beluga caviar taste like?

Beluga caviar is creamy and buttery, lightly salted and gently sweet, with a clean sea-salt finish and very little fishiness. Its large, soft pearls melt on the tongue.

Is Beluga or Osetra better?

Beluga is larger, softer and milder; Osetra is firmer, nuttier and more affordable. See Beluga vs. Ossetra for the full comparison.

Key Takeaways

• Beluga caviar is the salt-cured roe of the beluga sturgeon (Huso huso), the largest sturgeon in the world.
• It has nothing to do with beluga whales, which are mammals and do not lay eggs.
• Wild beluga is critically endangered, so legal beluga caviar today is farmed.
• Wild beluga caviar is illegal or heavily restricted; farmed beluga is legal and sold in most of the world, including Canada.
• Its large, light to steel grey pearls are creamy, buttery and mild, with a clean sea-salt finish.
• It is the most expensive standard caviar, from about CA$5,600 per kg in Canada to much more in the U.S.; rare albino Almas costs even more.

This guide was reviewed by CaviarHub and updated in October 2026. Species facts come from FishBase and the IUCN, legal information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and CITES, nutrition data from the USDA, and prices from a CaviarHub survey of online retailers, with specifications and tasting notes from CaviarHub.

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