The Society intends to act as an international forum of scientific discussion for all persons interested in pertinent issues on sturgeons while at the same time seeking opportunities for close co-operation at an international level. The vision for this society is to see stocks thriving once again in important sturgeon waters in the basins of Caspian, Asov, Black, North and Baltic seas, rivers in Siberia and China as well as in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada in addition to other North American watersheds. The Society therefore hopes through its activities to enhance the understanding of species protection world‐wide and across na1onal borders in regions with different cultural and political backgrounds (using the highly endangered sturgeons as case examples) in order to foster the sustainable use of natural resources that are traded globally.