Bulgaria has recently imposed a 4-year ban on sturgeon fishing in the lower Danube. This way Bulgaria has joined the long-term ban imposed by Romania in 2006, which would of course increase the effectiveness of the restrictions. In 2008 Bulgaria banned sturgeon fishing in the Black Sea before later restricting Danube fishing. We finally see Bulgaria making a along term-decision concerning the issue, Stoyan Mihov from the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) says. The ban is necessary because these ancient fish, which existed even before the time of the dinosaurs, is now threatened by extinction. In the past century the sturgeon population sharply decreased due to excessive fishing, provoked by the expensive caviar. This made it necessary for the CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) to define quotas for sturgeon fishing in the Danube.
The Black Sea is the second basin after the Caspian See where most of the world’s sturgeon population lives. From the Black Sea sturgeon fish enter the Danube where they spawn. By the 19th century great sturgeon fish reached even Germany but the Iron Gate Dam between Serbia and Romania has cut the routes of the sturgeon.
“Danube is the only river in the EU, where sturgeon fish can still spawn and live,” Stoyan Mihov from the WWF says. “Other big rivers are either polluted or dams have made it impossible for the sturgeon to migrate. Currently only the Bulgarian and the Romanian territory of the Danube is accessible to the sturgeon.”
The lower course of the Danube is one of the last havens for these fish, which have been on our planet for the past 200 million years. Long time ago 6 different sturgeon species lived in the Danube.
“Currently, there is evidence for the existence of 4 sturgeon species,” the WWF expert says. “The great sturgeon is the biggest one of them and its caviar is highly valued. The current situation is critical and that is why measures must be taken to preserve them. Sturgeon fish become sexually mature when they are between 9 and 15 years old. That is why their population recovers very slowly.”
According to environmentalists, the ban on sturgeon fishing was a necessary but late measure. Constant monitoring is now needed, as well as an information campaign among fishermen, and measures aimed at stopping poachers.
English: Alexander Markov
