Programme Coordinator – Alexei Chernyak, Moscow, Russia
Goal of the programme:
Saving from extinction the rarest species of sturgeons inhabiting the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas, the Sea of Azov, and water basins of the Far East and Central Asia.
The subjects of the programme are threatened species of sturgeons or the species that are on the brink of extinction. These species include the large Amu Darya shovelnose sturgeon (Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni), the small Amu Darya shovelnose sturgeon (Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni), the Syr Darya shovelnose sturgeon (Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi), the Sakhalin (Mikado) sturgeon (Acipenser mikadoi), the kaluga (Huso dauricus), the Amur (Japanese) sturgeon (Acipenser schrenckii), the Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser sturio), and the beluga (Huso huso maeoticus).
Nothing is known about the current status of the wild populations of some of the listed species. Other species of sturgeons with insufficiently studied wild populations may also be included in the programme.
- monitoring of the wild populations of the sturgeons included in the programme as target species;
- establishing regional fish hatcheries for maintaining breeding stock;
- creation of a cryobank for storing sperm of the sturgeons included in the programme;
- carrying out field work for collecting material for replenishing breeding stock and sperm for cryoconservation;
- developing and improving methods of sturgeon breeding and introduction of the sturgeons into aquaculture;
- establishing genetically diverse reserve groups of sturgeons included in the programme;
- reintroduction of the sturgeon progeny produced in aquaculture into their natural habitats or, if the water bodies of their original habitats are no longer suitable for reintroduction, identification of new places in the natural environment for sturgeon acclimatization;
- consolidation of efforts of participating organizations for the implementation of the listed objectives.
