Cooking a whole 30lb sturgeon on a spit

Based on my experience as a chef I wouldn't recommend spit-roasting your sturgeon. It's a rather large fish for that technique although smaller fish may work. Your idea to wrap it in wire albeit a good idea, give a moment to consider what would the wire do to your fish as it cooks. Proteins shrink when they cook and although you may wrap the fish in wire while it is still uncooked the wire will not shrink to accommodate the shrinkage of the fish.A 30 lb. sturgeon would probably be roasted and there will be less complications when it comes serving it whole (given you have a big oven!)

There are numerous historical references to spit-roasting sturgeon. Contemporary cuisine has rediscovered sturgeon more recently, particularly on the West Coast. Several years ago, sturgeon farmer Michael Passmore of Passmore Ranch (Sloughhouse, California) and chef Kelly McCown (The Kitchen, Sacramento, California) spit-roasted a 100-pound specimen for an event. Roasted whole, you want the temperature of the inside cavity to reach 145 F. On a grill, this can take about 25 minutes, depending on size of the fish. Since spit-roasting tends to be at a lower heat, it will take longer, and I would use an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness.