Sturgeon

An endemic variety (Acipenser sturio) of the common sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) was once abundant throughout the southern waters of the Baltic Sea, spawning in several major rivers. But only occasional catches have been reported since 1915, and the Baltic sturgeon may already be extinct in the wild. Baltic sturgeon, like many other sturgeon species, is a typical  representative of bottom feeders preferring quite wide spectrum of food. Due to the fact that it used to be the only representative of such a functional groupin the Baltic Sea, its extinction from the Baltic ecosystem may have had large, though unrevealed, consequences to the functioning of the food web.

Sturgeon was an important component of fisheries for centuries, especially in the southern Baltic. Since the 11th-12th centuries, sturgeon started to decline, but was a commercial species in several localities in the Baltic Sea in the 19th to early 20th century. The reasons for its downfall include dams preventing migration to spawning sites, water pollution and other changes in rivers affecting spawning sites, as well as overfishing for meat and caviar.

The endemic Baltic sturgeon is now presumed to have disappeared from Baltic waters. HELCOM has supported a German and Polish project to re-establish the sturgeon in the Baltic region. Wild sturgeon are extremely rare in Europe, and the only realistic way to save the species is through the rearing of breeding stock in captivity according to long-term reproduction plans designed to preserve genetic heterogeneity.

Last updated 3 December 2008