Specialists of a private enterprise “Odessa Sturgeon Breading Complex” (OSBC) are stocking the Danube river

The Danube stocking with cultured juveniles of various species of the sturgeon, that are listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine, has been systematically held by OSBC since 2009. It is half a million of aboriginal sturgeon species, like Russian sturgeon, the stellate sturgeon etc. has been released into the river for the period mentioned.

The release of the juveniles was held in the presence of the Board with representatives of the Fishery Authorities, Research and Production Institutes of Fisheries of Ukraine and the Danube Biosphere Wildlife Sanctuary, mass media as well as local government.

The basic objective of the project is restoration of the fish stock in the reservoirs of Odessa region, in the Danube river in particular.

The fish stocking of the Danube by OSBC was possible due to breeding exclusively pure lines of the manufactures of sturgeon species, whose juveniles have 100% genetic code of wild forms inhabiting the Danube as well as the northwest tip of the Black Sea.

It was in 2009 when the Danube Biosphere Wildlife Sanctuary sounded the alarm due to extinction of the sturgeon species, as they are registered in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. The Danube has remained the last river debouching into the Black Sea, where their natural spawning has preserved.

The sturgeon is the oldest species of fish. Sustaining all land cataclysms, it is just within last century that it has become on the verge of extinction. Scientists are trying to save the symbol of the Danube.

It’s the relic from the past. The sturgeon symbolizes the connection between the river and the ocean

Odessa Sturgeon Complex

The Danube is the second longest river in Europe. It flows from the mountains of Schwarzwald and then, making its way through dozens of states flows into the Black Sea. The river for the long time has not just been feeding the inhabitants of the coastal areas with tasty and nutritious fish, but also treated them to its most precious species – the sturgeon.

The first specimen of this oldest fish species appeared on earth more than 200 million years ago. According to the legends, some of them reached a gigantic size. This fish sustained numerous natural cataclysms. But it is recently that man has become its main threat.

Pollution of rivers, dam construction, bank landscape change and uncontrolled fishing – all this brought to the fact that 85% of the sturgeon are on the verge of extinction. It is also about 18 species of the kind, inhabiting Europe and Asia. You can never find the European sturgeon in the waters of the Danube. The rest 5 kinds (sterlet, stellate sturgeon, beluga and Russian sturgeon) may be extinct rather soon.

In the neighbouring countries – Romania and Bulgaria- a few fish nurseries have already been working, and since 2000 they have been stocking the Danube with the sturgeon species. However, it is now enough for a dramatical change of the situation.

We see international collaboration with the European Union as an important issue for bringing up a unified strategy of biological resources protection

Odessa Sturgeon Complex

The release was carried out by Odessa Sturgeon Breading Complex that has a status of a pedigree reproducer for sturgeon, sterlet and stellate sturgeon breeding, and is engaged in the cultivation of these types of fish. The works were carried out in the framework of the programme "Reproduction of aquatic living resources in inland water bodies and the Azov-Black Sea basin".

The specialist hope to achieve the increase in sturgeon populations in the Danube in the nearest 10 years.

You can find more details about Odessa Sturgeon Breeding complex on www.odessasturgeon.com