European sturgeon is a bonefish and belongs to the sturgeon species (Acipenser). It belongs to a very old group within the bonefish and shows therefore a series of primitive features, such as an asymmetrical (heterocercal) tail fin.

European sturgeon is an anadromous migratory fish which was once usual in Weser. Today it exists very rarely in the North East Atlantic and the last spawning areas are in the French Gironde. European sturgeon can be over 3 m long and weigh more than 300 kg. They have a sharklike form, with a dorsal fin widely extended backwards and distinctly marked side, ventral and dorsal shields. The sturgeon food consists mainly of worms, mollusks, crabs, fly larvae and smaller fish populating the river bottom.

As early as the 19th century, sturgeon had numerously populated the North and the Baltic Sea, as well as the Atlantic, migrating in large crowds into large streams in order to spawn. Due to the increasing morphological increasing morphological alterations, progressing water pollution and massive overfishing, the natural sturgeon population is nowadays extinct in Germany. Repopulation measures have been undertaken in recent time in the area of Elbe River. As soon as any more definite results are available hereto, it should be proven if such measures would be useful also for the Weser river catchment area. European sturgeon was the fish of the year 2001.