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The Lower Danube is home to Europe's last wild, naturally-reproducing sturgeon populations; due to the multitude of habitats they use throughout their life, these ancient fish are an indicator of the quality of the environment.
Sturgeon survived the dinosaur age and all species - the beluga sturgeon, the starry sturgeon, the ship sturgeon and the diamond sturgeon - are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List, which is why the authorities and researchers are making efforts to preserve sturgeon stocks, based on a Regional Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Sturgeon Populations in the Lower Danube River and the North-West Black Sea Region, approved in June 2013 during the CITES Regional Meeting in Tulcea, Agerpres.
As part of the project "Development of the Isaccea migratory fish monitoring station: sturgeon and mackerel" initiated by the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration in partnership with the Danube Delta National Research and Development Institute (INCDDD), the tagging of adult sturgeon with acoustic transmitters started in June this year, in order to monitor their route upstream the Danube and later back to the Black Sea.
The fish is caught on the Danube by professional fishermen from the Grindu commune, under the supervision of INCDDD Tulcea researchers.
"So far, 10 starry sturgeons have been captured, the largest being a five-kilogram female. They were all weighed, measured and photographed, and had a tiny fin fragment collected for molecular genetic analysis. In the end, they were fitted with acoustic tags and released back into the river,".
