Urgent need for eff ective regional collaboration and ex-situ conservation measures

Urgent need for effective regional collaboration and ex-situ conservation measures

Protecting the Danube sturgeon from extinction

The sturgeon is an iconic and flagship species of the Danube River with unique value for biodiversity, but sturgeon populations in the Danube and its tributaries are facing existential threats. Mitigating these calls for closer cross-border collaboration and much better implementation of existing measures.

Both from a scientific perspective (as “living fossils” and as an indicator of good water and habitat quality) and from a socio-economic point of view the sturgeon is an important species in the Danube. These fish have contributed to the economy of the Danube River basin for decades, especially in Bulgaria and Romania from where caviar was sold to traders all over the world. In addition, sturgeon meat was used for consumption.

To be effective a ban on fishing must include compensation to fishers

Today, due to the risk of extinction, most if not all sturgeon species are listed by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Sturgeon fishing is banned in most countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine, but this has not been accompanied by appropriate compensation for the adverse social and economic impacts the ban has had on local fishing communities, which resulted in an increase in unregulated fisheries and over-exploitation. Fisheries managers have since realised that fishermen who rely on catching sturgeon need access to other income-generating opportunities, while sturgeon stocks recover. Once these populations revive, a more sustainable exploitation may be feasible.

There are six species of sturgeons native in the Danube River Basin and the Black Sea, but the survival of these ancient fish is threatened by a range of issues. Beluga (Huso huso) is the most famous due to its role in caviar trade and its impressive size (up to six metres). The other species are of the genus Acipenser, including A. gueldenstaedti, A. nudiventris, A. ruthenus, A. stellatus and A. sturio. According to the IUCN, all sturgeons are facing the verge of extinction, of which A. sturio is already extinct in the Danube River Basin. Many factors cause the decline of sturgeon populations, such as illegal fishing and caviar trade, overfishing, destruction of key habitats, blocking of migration routes, low water quality, water abstraction, predation by exotic species and changes in hydrological regime. Most sturgeons are anadromous, spawning in freshwater but spending most of their life in saltwater. The lack of integrated cross-border management of populations is therefore a major issue.

Compliance with protection mechanisms is poorly policed and enforced

In theory, sturgeons are covered by various legal protection mechanisms by national and EU regulations, and by various conventions such as the Bern Convention, Convention of Migratory Species, CITES, and the Pan-European Sturgeon Action Plan. Implementation of these instruments is either not legally binding or not actively monitored and verified. Key steps towards remedying the problem are joint action by all stakeholders, and measures aimed at sturgeon conservation. In order to reach these objectives and to move a step forward, the “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati hosted the international conference “Conservation of Danube Sturgeons – a challenge or a burden?” in Galati, Romania towards the end of 2019. With this conference, Romania, jointly with other Danube Basin and Black Sea countries, hoped to draw attention to critically endangered sturgeon populations in the entire Danube. The event focused particularly on the status of Lower Danube/ Black Sea sturgeons. Sturgeon species upstream of the Iron Gate hydroelectric power station (the largest dam on the Danube river and located between Serbia and Romania), are restricted to sterlets (Acipenser ruthenus).

Iulian-Gabriel Birsan, Rector of “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, opened the conference expressing his full support for the action needed to save iconic species such as sturgeon. Among the speakers who addressed the audience were Adriana Petcu, State Secretary of Ministry of Water

and Forests, and Doina Cioaca, Ministry of Environment who both expressed their full support for sturgeon conservation and habitat protection, as well as more effective joint enforcement and control actions with neighbouring countries to protect sturgeon species and prevent the illegal trade in caviar. Paolo Bronzi, President of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society (WSCS) introduced the organisation which works for the conservation and restoration of sturgeon stocks world-wide. Closer cooperation with Danube region stakeholders and joint projects on sturgeon conservation were among his priorities he said. Peter Gammeltoft, President of the Danube Sturgeon Task Force (DSTF) spoke about the task force’s aim to promote the conservation of highly endangered native sturgeon species in the Danube River Basin and the Black Sea by implementing Sturgeon 2020, a strategy and programme for the protection and rehabilitation of the Danube sturgeons.

“Coherent joint regional monitoring programmes” would contribute to sturgeon conservation

On the first day, the status of wild sturgeon populations in the Danube and Black Sea and efforts to monitor them were introduced by Thomas Friedrich, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna who spoke on the status of sturgeon populations in Danube upstream of the Iron Gate. He said that ship sturgeon (Acipenser nudivenstris) was one of the most endangered European sturgeons with very few left in European rivers. Data models suggest that this species is heading inexorably towards extinction in the near future, considering that the last recorded catch was in 2009. Erik Rochard, World

Participants at the international conference “Conservation of Danube Sturgeons – a challenge or a burden?” took home the message that protecting the sturgeon called for improved policing of existing conservation measures and better collaboration between countries of the Danube basin and of the Black Sea.

Sturgeon Conservation Society, presented the theoretical requirements for a coherent lifecycle based population monitoring. Among the points he highlighted was the need for hydrological and hydrodynamic monitoring and modelling and fish monitoring using telemetry to facilitate up and downstream migration at major barriers. He also called upon national authorities to establish coherent joint regional monitoring programmes for all life stages of sturgeon. Opening the session on “Sustainable Management of Wild Populations of Sturgeons” Nicolae Dimulescu, President of the National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture, reviewed the management of wild sturgeon populations underlining the need for institutional coordination mechanisms for the management of inland fisheries, as well as the need to improve authorities’ competencies to manage and enforce measures, such as, ex-situ conservation to avoid the loss of autochthonous species.

In the session “Habitats and Migration” on the second day, Karl Schwaiger, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), presented the Iron Gate Feasibility Study – State of play, which aims to identify ways to preserve fish stocks at the Romanian-Serbian border. The study is expected to conclude in 2020 and will be followed by two phases — technical design and implementation (from 2024). The activities will be implemented jointly with the ICPDR, Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development (DDNI), Romania, and the Jaroslav ýerni Institute for Water Resources Development (JCI), Serbia. In the session on “Active Support of Populations” Paolo Bronzi reported on Adriatic sturgeon (A. naccarii) restocking programmes in Italy, saying that hatcheries benefit the surrounding local communities and the country they are located in, because they support aquatic biodiversity goals (through restocking) in a socially and environmentally sustainable manner.

The conference concluded that stocking is a temporary compensation measure to overcome adverse environmental conditions that cause recruitment failure or to initiate self-sustaining populations. In addition, protection and restoration of key habitats for feeding and spawning were considered prerequisites for the survival of populations still living in the wild and for conservation measures to be effective. Also, delegates agreed that high priority must be given to protection and restoration of migration corridors if conservation was to succeed. Sturgeon populations need protection from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and from being taken as by-catch, for effective conservation. Participants agreed on the need for effective fishing bans and conservation efforts that must be long-term to take into account the late maturity of sturgeons. And creating consumer awareness was critical to reduce demand for illegal caviar.

Galati Declaration to support sturgeon conservation in the Danube basin and Black Sea

Delegates to the Conference unanimously adopted the Galati Declaration on Sturgeon Conservation in the Danube Basin and Black Sea, which from now on will guide the implementation of the Pan-European Sturgeon

Action Plan under the Bern Convention and EU Habitats Directive. The declaration provides decision makers and other stakeholders with a basis for future actions and shows how sturgeons can be saved from extinction. Tudor Ionescu, Director, Research and Development Centre for Sturgeon, noted that two days of intensive

Conference attracts broad European representation The conference was jointly organised by “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati (Research and Development Centre for Sturgeon, Aquatic Habitats and Biodiversity), the DSTF (Danube Sturgeon Task Force), the Romanian Ministry of Water and Forests, the Romanian Ministry of Environment, NAFA (Romanian National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture), WSCS (World Sturgeon Conservation Society) and WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), and it took place under the patronage of the Romanian Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and the Romanian Academy. The 120 delegates to the Conference represented fisheries, water and environmental administrations, the scientific community, European Commission, and civil society from Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine. work had born fruitful results. “I strongly believe that the “Gala܊i Declaration” represents the beginning of new and much stronger collaborations between specialists and officials from the Danube and Black Sea countries. The conference motto “Together for Sturgeons” will be the guide for action because sturgeons don´t know borders, so their conservation and recovery require urgent cross-border efforts. This joint declaration provides the necessary context for treating causes rather than effects and will improve the Danube Sturgeons status in Danube and Black Sea Basin” he said.

The declaration emphasises, “the need to have a sound and improved monitoring of sturgeon” and urges “all competent authorities to enhance the monitoring considerably to ensure more accurate cross-border assessment of sturgeons populations, including the establishment of joint monitoring working group”. It recommends anchoring sturgeon conservation in relevant macroregional strategies and the Black Sea Maritime Agenda” and called on “the European Commission and the competent authorities in EU candidate and Eastern Partnership countries to consider sturgeon conservation measures in their agreements on funding”. The full Galati Declaration can be consulted at http://www. sturgeon.ugal.ro/images/2019/ Galati_Declaration.pdf

Toni Bartulin, EUROFISH, toni.bartulin@eurofish.dk