The European sturgeon is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES (Appendix I), the Convention on Migratory Species (Appendix I) and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, also known as the Bern Convention (Appendix III). The Bern Convention provides an extremely useful tool for reflection on the drawing up of an action plan and has already demonstrated its efficiency in this domain (Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe, Large Herbivore Initiative for Europe, BirdLife action plans, etc.).

Appendix II of the Council of the European Communities Directive CEE/92/43 (Habitats Directive, Fauna, Flora) considers the European sturgeon as one of the 5 species of fish to benefit from conservation efforts (priority species) and the designation of Special Conservation Areas to include essential habitats of the species in the Natura 2000 network.  It is also listed in Appendix IV of this same Directive.

The designation of Special Conservation Areas is, however, only envisaged on the sole basis of current nomenclature of reference habitats ( CORINE), which is not very well adapted to marine environments.  Also, the Habitats Directives will only cover a part of the species marine habitat in the medium term and the continental shelf part of the species habitat beyond 200 nautical miles is not included.

The European sturgeon is also included in the 2004 list of species that are threatened and/or in decline established by the OSPAR Convention for the protection of the North East Atlantic marine environment.  The species is classed as being critically endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species established by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).