Sturgeon are occasionally caught in the Bristol Channel or lower reaches of the Severn. Not very long ago one was caught there and duly offered to the Queen, who graciously declined the offer, but her reply was lost by Royal Mail!
The Caspian sturgeon are becoming an increasingly endangered species, partly due to heavily armed poachers, but also to loss of spawning water caused by the construction of dams and barrages and industrial polution.With the break up of the USSR (for which the sturgeon was a valuable source of hard currency) the situation has steadily deteriorated. Depending upon the species it may take up to 17 years or even more for some sturgeon to become sexually mature, but the flesh of the immature ones is becoming increasingly valuable, hence the future for the Asian ones looks bleak.