PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Sturgeons are amongst the most threatened groups of animals worldwide, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The conservation status of all sturgeon species in Europe has become highly critical, with almost no signs of recovery. Previous conservation attempts have not been successful or have been implemented over periods too short to have an effect on population recovery due to the long generation intervals of most species. Sturgeons are excellent flagship species for ecologically healthy rivers and seas due to their size, longevity, diverse habitat utilisation and their migratory life cycle. Their conservation needs a holistic approach for connecting international river systems and coastal areas and a wide set of measures including protection of remaining specimens in situ, restoration of habitat, passability at migration barriers, support of populations by ex situ living gene banks in captivity and subsequent releases of juveniles. Both the pan-European action plan for sturgeons as well as the Galati Declaration on sturgeon conservation in the Danube Basin and the Black Sea address these issues and highlight the urgent necessity to take action before the remaining species go extinct. In the Danube, 2 out of 6 species are already extinct. The remaining 4 sturgeon species are targets of this LIFE project.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE Boat 4 Sturgeons project targets 4 sturgeon species in the Danube and its tributaries: sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), Russian sturgeon (A. gueldenstaedtii), stellate sturgeon (A. stellatus) and beluga or great sturgeon (Huso huso). The objective is to save these 4 surviving Danube sturgeon species from extinction by securing their gene pool in captivity, through keeping and reproducing genetically diverse and autochthonous (indigenous) broodstock.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- Populations supported through the rearing and release of fit juveniles; and
- Increased recruitment of wild populations by at least 2 000 adults of the 3 anadromous species (i.e. which migrate up rivers from the sea to breed) in the Lower Danube and 2 000 adult sterlets in each of the Mura-Drava system, the Tisza, the Körös, the Middle Danube and 3 stretches in the Upper Danube.
