ANIMAL CURIOSITIES

Germany, 700 sturgeons released in the Oder to remedy their extinction

A beautiful story comes directly from Germany. A couple of days ago, employees of the Leibnitz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the Regional Fisheries Office of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania released around 700 Baltic sturgeon pups and 20 three-year-old specimens, all bred in captivity, into the Oder as part of an ongoing restocking effort.

The Baltic sturgeon is a type of fish once common throughout the Baltic Sea region, but overfishing and development of waterways brought it to the brink of extinction in the area in the 1950s.

The restoration project on the Oder River, underway right now, began in 2007 with genetically identical donor fish from the Saint John River in Canada.

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Germany, 700 sturgeons released in the Oder river to remedy their extinction
A beautiful story comes directly from Germany. A couple of days ago, employees of the Leibnitz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the Regional Fisheries Office of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania released around 700 Baltic sturgeon pups and 20 three-year-old specimens, all bred in captivity, into the River Oder as part of an ongoing restocking effort.
Getty Images
Germany, 700 sturgeons released in the Oder river to remedy their extinction
The Baltic sturgeon is a type of fish once common throughout the Baltic Sea region, but overfishing and development of waterways brought it to the brink of extinction in the area in the 1950s.
Getty Images
Germany, 700 sturgeons released in the Oder river to remedy their extinction
The restoration project on the Oder River, underway right now, began in 2007 with genetically identical donor fish from the Saint John River in Canada.
Getty Images
Germany, 700 sturgeons released in the Oder river to remedy their extinction
The Baltic sturgeon reaches reproductive maturity at the age of about 15 years, can live to be over 100 years old and reach a length of five metres. The fish spend most of their lives in the Baltic Sea and return to the Oder River to spawn.
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Germany, 700 sturgeons released in the Oder river to remedy their extinction
Already in 2020, the Fisheries Institute of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern research centre received EUR 1 million (1.3 million to be exact) in aid to promote sturgeon restocking in the Baltic Sea region. The aim was to establish a sturgeon population that would be able to reproduce independently.
Getty Images
Germany, 700 sturgeons released in the Oder river to remedy their extinction
As part of the institute's restocking activities, specimens with very high reproductive potential were bred, and a monitoring system was also set up together with amateur and professional fishermen. In addition, international cooperation was promoted, particularly with the southern and eastern Baltic Sea riparian states.
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