These you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales--these you may eat. But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins and scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water--they are an abomination for you and an abomination for you they shall remain: you shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcasses.
Sturgeon is a controversial fish. Some say it is Kosher, some say it is not.
According to the American-Asian Kashrus Services' LIST OF ORTHODOX KOSHER FISH (http://www.kashrus.org/kosher/fish.html), it is not:
Of the four types of scales, clenoid, cycloid, ganoid and placoid, only clenoid and cycloid scales are valid according to the Torah. Gandoid is the type found on sturgeon and placoid is found on shark.
However, this is not a universally held belief. Steven Weintraub's KASHRUT, THEORY, LAW AND PRACTICE, part of his Jewish Information Pages (http://www.pswtech.com/~stevenw/jewish/kosher/l2.permissible_meat.html), says that swordfish and sturgeon both have scales as young fish, but lose them later in life. The Orthodox say these two fish are unkosher for this reason, the Conservative CJLS permits them to be eaten.
Also check out: "Kashrut: food, eating and wine-making." in: Siegal, Richard and others, eds., THE FIRST JEWISH CATALOG, Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1973, pp. 24-25.
You decide.
2/16/98
Bluethread ©1998 Rosemarie E. Falanga, Cy H. Silver