Today’s launch took place within the “STURGEX” project, initiated by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, a program that aims to preserve the genetic diversity of three species of Danube sturgeon (sturgeon, grayling and trout) in -a centralized, living gene bank, by acquiring breeders for the three species and housing them in special facilities, but also in the wild, to save animals with inestimable genotypes.
The project runs from 2023 to 2024 and is financed by the La Prairie Group, through the “Save Our Species” program of the IUCN. Another project, LIFE-Boat4Sturgeon, funded by the EU’s LIFE Program running from 2022 to 2030, aims to create the necessary infrastructure, lay the foundations for spawning stock and release fry to support the populations of Russian beluga sturgeon and stellate (brown, bream and trout) in the Danube.
High-value fish are present in several caviar farms in Romania. If they are slaughtered for caviar, their genotypes may ultimately be lost to conservation. IUCN Save Our Species STURGEX implemented genetic screening of farmed fish, investigating their lineage, pedigree and sex, to ultimately select rare genotypes for inclusion in a brood stock centralized within the LIFE project for the reproduction and release of sturgeon fry for the purpose of conserving the species.
The nearly 700 sturgeon chicks released today in Isaccea, as a demonstration action, were produced at the Horia farm, in Tulcea county, and, before release, were equipped with PIT-type identification devices and marked with a special color, suitable last up to a year.
“While two of the six Danube sturgeon species are locally extinct, the status of the three remaining anandromous species (mullet, white sturgeon and trout) requires immediate conservation actions ex situ, i.e. outside their natural habitats, in order to conserve diversity remaining genetics. These ex situ actions must maintain a genetically diverse, native breeding stock in accordance with the most modern methods of breeding and rearing for release. This spawning stock must be available to all states in the Lower Danube river basin and must be jointly managed by them for conservation purposes,” said Thomas Friedrich, project manager, BOKU.
Currently, there are no centralized breeding stocks in captive gene banks, and conservation depends partly on the goodwill of individual farmers.
“Today’s event gives us a dose of optimism, being a good start for promoting the extended commitment of the Danube sturgeon population, through several key projects in which we, WWF, are a part. We want to significantly improve the public’s awareness of the importance of the health of water ecosystems and valuable species, such as sturgeons,” said Cristina Munteanu, National Coordinator – sturgeons, WWF-Romania (World Wide Fund for Nature).
The Sturgex project runs from 2023 – 2024 and is funded by the La Prairie Group through IUCN’s Save Our Species programme. This is complementary to the LIFE-Boat 4 Sturgeon project, financed mainly by the European Union through the LIFE Program and which, in the period 2022-2030, aims, in turn, to save from extinction the four species of sturgeon remaining in the Danube (morun, whiting, trout and bream).
Today’s action took place in the presence of representatives of the Administration of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (ARBDD), the National Agency for Environmental Protection – Tulcea, the National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture (ANPA), the “Danube Delta” National Research and Development Institute – INCDDD and of the “Danube Delta” Police Service.
Editor – Daniel Șăndăreanu
