What does beluga fish look like and where is found in Russia. Beluga fish: meaning and artificial breeding

Beluga (lat. Huso huso) is a species of ray-finned fish of the sturgeon order, the sturgeon family, the genus Beluga.

Beluga - ancient fish on a planet that appeared on earth over 200 million years ago. The only closest relative of the beluga is kaluga, an inhabitant of the river basin of the Far East region.

What does a beluga look like?

Beluga is considered the largest of all freshwater fish. The body of an adult individual reaches a length of 4.2 m, and the weight is about 1.5 tons, with females slightly larger than males.

The thick body of a cylindrical beluga is covered with five rows of bone formations - shields, and narrows noticeably towards the tail. The bony plates covering the head, sides and belly are poorly developed. More durable shields, in the amount of 13 pieces, are located on the back and perform a protective function.

Like all ray-finned fish, beluga fins are distinguished by the presence of long and sharp, serrated rays: the dorsal contains at least 60 rays, the anal from 20 to 40.

The elongated head ends in an upturned, pointed nose, which is slightly translucent due to the absence of bony shields. The mouth of the beluga is quite wide, but does not go beyond the sides of the head, a fleshy upper lip hangs over it. Antennae located on the sides mandible, wider and also longer than most sturgeons and perform an olfactory function.

The back of the beluga is distinguished by a greenish or ash-gray color, the belly is white or light gray, and the nose has a characteristic yellowness.

Where does the beluga live

Belugas are migratory fish, and spend most of their lives in the waters of the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas, and migrate to the rivers only during the breeding season, and at the end of spawning they go back to the sea.

By nature, the beluga is a loner. Adults and mature individuals live at great depths, juveniles prefer shallow water, not far from the mouth of the river.

In summer, after spawning, fish rest on medium depth and then fed before hibernation. Before the onset of cold weather, the body of the beluga is covered with a "fur coat" of a thick layer of mucus, and the fish falls into a state of suspended animation until the very spring.

What does a beluga eat.

Large fish need a lot of food, and the size of individual individuals directly depends on the diet: the better the fish eats, the large sizes she reaches. The main food of the beluga is various types of fish, and the beluga begins to prey at a very young age, being a fry.

Adults hunt successfully seabed, as well as in the water column. The favorite food of the beluga is gobies, herring, sprats, sprats, anchovies, roach, anchovies, as well as representatives of a large carp family. A certain part of the diet is made up of crustaceans and molluscs, and even medium-sized animals, for example, Caspian seal cubs or waterfowl.

Beluga jumps out of the water.

Beluga breeding

Belugas are long-livers of the animal world, some specimens live up to 100 years, so they reach reproductive age late. Males are ready to breed at the age of 13-18 years, females mature by 16-27 years.

Spawning takes place in different time year and depending on this, the beluga of the spring and autumn course is distinguished.

The spring beluga enters the rivers from the end of January almost until the very summer. The autumn beluga begins running at the end of summer and ends in December, therefore it is forced to spend the winter at the bottom of the river in deep holes, and starts breeding only next spring.

Each mature individual does not breed every year, but at a certain interval, usually 2-4 years. The spawning grounds of the beluga go through deep rocky ridges, in the middle of a fast current.

The fertility of the female depends on her size, but in any case, the amount of spawned eggs is 1/5 of her own body. The average amount of caviar is from 500 thousand to a million.

Dark gray eggs, 3 mm in diameter, look like peas. Due to the increased stickiness, caviar perfectly sticks to cold underwater stones. At a water temperature of + 12-13 degrees, the incubation period is only 8 days.

The fry that were born immediately pass to higher nutrition, bypassing the diet, consisting of the simplest organisms. Without stopping, the juveniles go to the seas, where they live until the onset of puberty.

One of the most amazing fish, attracting attention with its size and lifestyle, is a beluga. A few decades ago, this individual was found in the waters of the Caspian and Azov Seas, in the Adriatic. TO today its range has shrunk. Fish are found in the Black Sea and the Urals. In the Volga and Azov, a very similar, but different subspecies is found, which in 90% of cases is grown artificially. Thanks to this, it is possible to maintain the population.

The habitat of the beluga is shrinking every year.

Description of the sea giant

Beluga fish is considered one of the largest and prominent representatives sturgeon family. Unlike other species, it has pronounced external features:

• obtuse small nose with a pointed end, slightly translucent due to the absence of bone shields;
• wide mouth with a thickened lower lip;
• very thick and well-fed cylindrical body;
• a small bug (thorn) on the dorsal row;
• grayish-dark shade of a giant body, white belly.

Average weight beluga is 90-120 kg

The most large beluga, which was ever caught, surprised with a weight of 1.5 tons and a body length of 4.2 meters. The trophy is stored in the Museum of Tatarstan, where thousands of amateurs and professional anglers come every year to see this miracle. It is impossible to catch a similar large specimen in our time, since the catch is in large industrial scale. Today, the largest beluga caught in the Volga weighs no more than 450-500 kg. Maximum weight immature young animals - within 40 kg. On average, the mass of fish going to spawn is 100-120 kg (females) or 90 kg (males).

The giant sturgeon lives for more than a hundred years, if not caught in the nets of merciless fishermen. The population is under the protection of the Red Book, but extreme fishing enthusiasts do not care about prohibitions. In Russia, catching beluga is punishable by a heavy fine.

Beluga is listed in the Red Book

It is difficult to accurately name the environment and places where a huge sturgeon can live, because it is considered an anadromous species. He can be found both in the seas and in the rivers, where he has to swim in order to profit from tasty and affordable prey. During spawning, the beluga goes completely to the Crimean coast or to freshwater places, where it can quickly destroy local inhabitants.

Nutrition and behavior in nature

Beluga looks intimidating, and not in vain. She does not disdain any inhabitants of reservoirs. Everyone who approaches the fish at the limit near distance, instantly find themselves in her huge stomach. omnivores sea ​​giants most preferred in their diet:

• sea ​​gobies;
• herring;
• anchovy;
• all representatives of the carp family;
• carp;
• rudd;
• roach.

Beluga is not squeamish and can eat everything that comes in its way

In nature, there are cases when the beluga eats water rats and mice. During the autopsy of some individuals, even their own cubs, which had recently appeared from eggs, were found in the stomach cavity. The growing young can feed on mollusks and various invertebrates, as well as sprat and roach.

Spawning and reproduction

The peculiarities of the reproduction of the beluga on the Volga are explained by the presence in nature of its two different races (forms): spring and winter. One wave, wintering, goes to spawn in the Volga or to Black Sea coast in September-October. The second, spring, spawns from March to mid-April. The active movement of fish is observed when the water temperature in the river is 7-8 degrees, and the flood reaches its maximum.

Most of beluga fry, barely hatched, swims into the Caspian Sea with adults

For throwing caviar, the beluga chooses places with a depth of more than 4 meters in the rapids of the rivers, prefers a rocky bottom. One female has over 200 thousand eggs, but most often their number is from 5 to 8 million. The diameter of one egg is 3-4 mm.

After the end of spawning, the fish quickly returns to marine environment. The larvae emerging from the eggs do not remain in the Volga for a long time and also follow the adults.

Use in cooking

The meat of a huge sturgeon in Russian cuisine is considered a valuable delicacy. From it prepare surprisingly tasty, nutritious and healthy meals. Real masterpieces are obtained with any method of cooking fish:

• frying;
• dried;
• smoking;
• baking;
• steam cooking;
• grilling.

Beluga shish kebab is especially appreciated by gourmets: incredibly tender meat baked with smoke cannot leave indifferent even the most sophisticated connoisseur of fish dishes.

Beluga meat contains a number of useful vitamins and amino acids.

Major Representative Sturgeon is valued not only for its unique taste, but also for a set of health benefits. First, tender meat contains a large number of easily digestible protein with low calorie foods. The delicacy saturates the body with essential amino acids (they are not synthesized and can only be obtained with certain foods).

Secondly, in marine life, as in other seafood, there is fluorine, calcium and other trace elements necessary to maintain healthy bones, hair, nails and skin beauty. Potassium, which is part of the meat, supports the heart muscle, preventing heart attack and stroke. Thanks to vitamin A, the use of valuable sturgeon improves visual acuity, and vitamin D prevents osteoporosis and rickets.

The value of caviar

Special attention deserves caviar, which is obtained from huge inhabitants seas and rivers. Females are capable of throwing the largest possible eggs. As is known, black caviar- an expensive, healthy delicacy that is recommended for both children and adults. Natural bioproduct has a positive effect on all organ systems.

The high price of black caviar is due to the duration of growing adults

Growing beluga in the commercial economy takes about 15 years in order to obtain caviar. IN natural conditions catching valuable specimens is prohibited, so the cost finished product impressive. For 100 grams of black caviar, you have to pay from 10 to 15 thousand rubles, and the price of a kilogram in European markets often exceeds 10 thousand dollars. Most of the goods found on the market appear counterfeit.

Problems of population conservation

Beluga belongs to the species of fish disappearing from the planet. Most individuals do not have time to grow to their maximum size, as they are caught by poachers and lovers of unusual marine trophies. In addition to fishermen, industrial facilities have also contributed to the decline in the population. Due to the active construction of hydroelectric power plants, the dams of which are located on the migration path of fish, create obstacles for their movement to spawn. Due to hydraulic structures and their dams, the flow of beluga to the rivers of Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria is completely blocked.

Beluga numbers are declining every year

Another problem is the constantly deteriorating environment. Since the life expectancy of the beluga is several years and even reaches a century, toxic, harmful substances that enter the body have time to accumulate in it. environment as a result of human activity. Pesticides, chemicals and hormones negatively affect the reproductive capabilities of the giant fish.

A lot of effort will have to be made to preserve the unique king fish, otherwise the population will soon completely disappear from the planet. The unique look is not only a valuable delicacy, but also an important chain the food chain in the marine environment.

Hello everyone! Today we will talk about such fish as Beluga. This is not an ordinary fish. This fish is on the verge of extinction. Why is a fish because it reaches very large sizes in height in weight, and can also live for about a hundred years. It can also be called a sad fish because of its appearance. Well, now let's talk about everything in order.

Beluga from the sturgeon family. permanent place does not have a residence, therefore it is considered a semi-passage. Spawning in rivers lives in the seas and rivers. Why can't it be called completely marine or freshwater fish?

The fact is that large individuals switch to marine cuisine only when there is not enough food for them in the rivers. Up to a certain size, she can live quietly in rivers and backwaters, but when food starts to run out, then she switches to marine inhabitants. The diet includes herring, gobies, sprat, in a word, a predator. In the rivers they eat everything they can catch from roach to crucian carp. The Black, Azov, Caspian Seas in these seas the beluga lives.

What is the largest beluga caught

With regards to size, the largest Beluga, according to unconfirmed reports, weighed over two tons and was about nine meters long. If the information can be confirmed, then the beluga can easily be considered the largest freshwater fish on the planet.

There are also accurate data on already caught fish. So in 1827, the weight of fish caught in the lower reaches of the Volga River amounted to one and a half tons 1500 kg. In the same place in the Volga in 1922, the catch amounted to 75 pounds, which by our standards is about 1224 kg. The head weighed 146 kg, and the calves were almost 259 kg in it. It’s not even likely to be imagined, like this, the catch, the whole village can be provided with meat and there will still be left for itself.

IN present time such giants are practically not caught, although here is an example for you relatively not so long ago, but already in the last century in 1970, a beluga weighing 1000 kg was caught for almost 100 kg of caviar. Because of tasty meat And heavy weight it was caught on an industrial scale. The average commercial weight is 50-70 kg.

Beluga is a long resident among freshwater fish

Beluga is a long resident among fish and can live up to 100 years. Can spawn many times, unlike their fellow Pacific salmon, which spawn only once in a lifetime, and die after spawning.

Completely ready for breeding, these giants become almost like people. Well, judge the males themselves mature by the age of 15-18, and the females not earlier than at the age of 16-27. The average number of eggs thrown in is considered to be about 715 thousand eggs. The fertility of the beluga depends on the size of the female, as well as on the habitat. In the Volga beluga, this number ranges from 500 thousand to a million, and the Kurinskys in the same size give 640 thousand eggs. It all depends on the habitat and living conditions.

The most expensive caviar is beluga

As for the caviar itself. Beluga eggs are quite large 1.4-2.5 mm. The weight of the caviar is almost half the weight of the female. It has a pleasant delicate nutty flavor.

Dark grey colour, brilliant shade, strong smell, all this made the caviar so tasty that on the black market in Russia the buyer is ready to pay about 620 euros per kg for such a product without haggling. Abroad, for beluga caviar, you can get about 7,000 euros. This price is made up of palatability of this caviar and from the fact that in Russia you can’t officially buy or sell beluga caviar anywhere. All transactions are under the black flag.

Today in Russia there is a ban on catching beluga, as it is on the verge of extinction. Beluga is also listed in the Red Book. This is a rather risky business to catch beluga. Because the deadlines are huge.

Taste qualities of beluga meat

Beluga meat, unlike the rest sturgeon breeds not greasy and has a very small percentage of fat. But despite the fact that in the tsarist times there were much more beluga than now, only kings, princes and boyars could still taste its delicious meat. As you can see, even then they understood meat, and considered beluga meat to be something unusual and wonderful.

What secrets and beliefs Beluga is surrounded by

But beluga was valuable not only for meat and caviar in those distant times. For example, almost every fisherman believed in the miraculous properties of beluga stone. With the help of this miracle stone, you can heal people, heal entire villages. It was also believed that such an amulet brings happiness and a good catch to the one who possesses this stone.

It was flat and oval in shape, and had dimensions from egg. It could be obtained in the kidneys of large beluga. It could also be very expensive to sell or change to something expensive. But these rumors were never confirmed. But according to such stones, most likely they were high-quality fakes of skilled craftsmen. There are those who still believe in the miraculous properties of this pebble, and that such a stone actually exists.

But the secrets of the beluga do not end there.

Many fishermen were of the same opinion that the beluga is very poisonous fish. This belief has also not been confirmed. But the fishermen were sure that such a fish could get rabies like a dog or cat. It was also believed that the beluga liver was poisonous. But no matter what our ancestors believed there, many are still inclined to believe that all these rumors were spread by the nobility.

So that commoners do not eat meat and do not catch beluga for good. It is possible that thanks to these rumors in the past, the beluga could grow up to 2 tons in weight and 9 meters in length.

Beluga is a freshwater fish that has survived to this day from ancient times. Her ancestors existed on earth in jurassic, which was 200 million years ago.

This is the largest of all freshwater fish that have ever existed on our planet. Her body can reach a length of about five meters, and she can weigh about two tons.

This giant fish there is only one relative - this is kaluga, which lives in the Far Eastern rivers.

The body of the beluga is shaped like a torpedo, it narrows towards the tail, and five rows of bone plates pass along its sides, which are also called shields, the task of which is to protect the fish from external influences. Top part This fish is colored greenish or dark gray, and its belly is usually white.

The muzzle of the beluga has a peculiar shape: its lower part is elongated and slightly turned up. It is on this part of it that the antennae are located, which have the functions of the organs of smell. Behind them is a mouth shaped like a sickle. Different-sex representatives of this species do not differ from each other in color. But in size, females are superior to males.

The main habitat of the beluga is the Caspian Sea, although it can also be found in other seas - for example, the Azov, Black or Adriatic. But with the approach of the spawning period, the beluga leaves salt water and goes upstream of freshwater rivers, and rises quite high along them. Belugas lead a solitary lifestyle, making exceptions only for the spawning period, in order to mate.

Beluga is the largest among the family.

Spawning takes place in the spring, and not every year. As a rule, this fish needs a break of 2 to 4 years. After the female rises up the river, she lays a huge number of eggs - from three hundred thousand to seven and a half million. After that, he considers his mission accomplished and returns back to the sea. Young beluga hatch into the light somewhere in May-June and immediately fully show their predatory character. The main food for them at this time are small invertebrates. So, refreshing along the way, the Belugas gradually move towards the sea. In a month they grow up to 7-10 cm, and in a year - up to 1 meter.

Beluga is a relative of the sturgeon.

Under favorable circumstances, a female can spawn about nine times in her life. But the fact that this fish and its caviar represent a huge commercial value, does not allow her to live, in most cases, even half of the term measured by nature. They catch it both legally and illegally.

June 28th, 2013

They say that this is the king-beluga. And on the Internet, a new MEM has already broken out in the likeness of a sad cat and a stoned fox - a sad fish. Let's find out more about her...

This Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore.

The Astrakhan museum has two record beluga whales - one 4-meter (slightly smaller than the one that Nicholas II presented to the Kazan museum) and the largest - 6-meter. the largest beluga, six meters long. They caught her at the same time as the four-meter one, in 1989. The poachers caught the world's largest beluga, gutted the caviar, and then called the museum and said where you can pick up a "fish" the size of a huge truck.

Stuffed Beluga, Huso huso
Type: stuffed animal
Author: Golovachev V.I.
Dating: The stuffed animal was made in 1990.
Size: length - 4 m 20 cm, weight - 966 kg
Description: Beluga is valuable commercial fish sturgeon family, common in the basins of the Caspian, Black, Azov seas. In 1989 it was caught by fishermen. Weight 966 kg, caviar weight 120 kg, age 70-75 years, length 4 m 20 cm. The stuffed animal was made by taxidermist Golovachev V.I. in 1990
Organization: Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore

Existing for over 200 million years, sturgeons are close to extinction today. The Danube, in the region of Romania and Bulgaria, has one of the most viable wild sturgeon populations in Europe. Danube sturgeons are one of the most important indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Most of them live in the Black Sea and migrate up the Danube to spawn. They reach 6 meters in length and live up to 100 years.

Illegal fishing and barbaric extermination, mainly for caviar, is one of the main dangers threatening sturgeons. Deprivation of habitual habitat and disruption of sturgeon migration routes is another big threat for this unique look. By founding, with the participation of the European Community, the Life + programme, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with the support of others international organizations in last years working on these issues.

Type and origin

Sturgeon breeds include: beluga, stellate sturgeon, sturgeon, sterlet. In the fossil state, sturgeon fish are known only from the Eocene (85.8-70.6 million years ago). In zoogeographical terms, representatives of the subfamily of shovel-nosed-like are very interesting, which are found on the one hand in Central Asia, on the other hand, in North America, which allows you to see modern types this genus is the remains of a formerly widespread fauna. Sturgeons are one of the most unique and attractive species of ancient fish. They have existed for more than 200 million years, and have lived since the time when dinosaurs inhabited our planet. From their unusual appearance, in their robes of bone plates, they remind us of ancient times, when special armor or strong carapace was needed to survive. They have survived to this day, almost unchanged.

Alas, today existing species sturgeon fish are endangered or even endangered.

Sturgeons are the largest freshwater fish

Beluga book of records

Beluga is not only the largest of the sturgeons, but also the most big fish of those caught in fresh waters. There are cases when specimens up to 9 meters long and weighing up to 2000 kg came across. Today, individuals weighing more than 200 kg are rarely seen, transitions to spawning have become too dangerous.
In "Research on the state of fisheries in Russia", in 1861, it was reported about a beluga caught in 1827 in the lower reaches of the Volga, which weighed 1.5 tons.

On May 11, 1922, in the Caspian Sea, near the mouth of the Volga, a female weighing 1224 kilograms was caught, while 667 kilograms were on her body, 288 kilograms on her head, and 146.5 kilograms on her caviar (see photo). Once again, a female of the same size was caught in 1924 in the Caspian Sea near Biryuchaya Spit, there were 246 kilograms of caviar in her, and total number eggs was about 7.7 million.

A little to the east, before the mouth of the Urals, on May 3, 1926, a 75-year-old female weighing more than 1 ton and 4.24 meters long was caught, in which there were 190 kilograms of caviar. IN National Museum The Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan presents a stuffed beluga 4.17 meters long, mined in the lower reaches of the Volga at the beginning of the 20th century. Its weight when caught was about 1000 kilograms, the age of the fish is 60-70 years.

In October 1891, when the wind stole water from the Taganrog Bay Sea of ​​Azov, a peasant passing by the exposed shore, found a beluga in one of the puddles, pulling 20 pounds (327 kg), of which 3 pounds (49 kg) fell on caviar.

Lifestyle

All sturgeons migrate long distances for spawning and in search of food. Some migrate between salt and fresh water, while others live only in fresh water all their lives. They breed in fresh water and have a long life cycle, as they take years, sometimes decades, to reach maturity when they are first able to produce offspring. While the annual successful spawning is almost unpredictable, and depends on the available habitat, suitable current and temperature, specific spawning sites, periodicity and migration are predictable. Natural crossing is possible between any species of sturgeon. In addition to the spring move into the rivers for spawning, sturgeons sometimes enter the rivers also in the fall - for wintering. These fish tend to stay near the bottom.

According to the method of feeding, the beluga is a predator, feeding mainly on fish, but also on mollusks, worms, and insects. Begins to prey even as a fry in the river. In the sea, it feeds mainly on fish (herring, sprats, gobies, etc.), but does not neglect mollusks. In the stomachs Caspian beluga even seal pups (babies) were found.

Beluga takes care of her offspring

Beluga is a long-lived fish reaching the age of 100 years. Unlike Pacific salmon, which die after spawning, beluga, like other sturgeons, can spawn many times in a lifetime. After spawning, they migrate back to the sea. Caspian beluga males reach puberty at 13-18 years old, and females - at 16-27 (mainly at 22-27) years. The fertility of the beluga, depending on the size of the female, ranges from 500 thousand to a million (in exceptional cases - up to 5 million) eggs.
In nature, the beluga is an independent species, but it can hybridize with sterlet, stellate sturgeon, spike and sturgeon. Via artificial insemination viable hybrids were obtained - beluga-sterlet (bester). Sturgeon hybrids are successfully grown in pond (aquaculture) farms.

There are many myths and legends associated with the beluga. For example, in ancient times, fishermen talked about the miraculous biluzhin stone, which is able to heal a person from any disease, protect from troubles, save the ship from a storm and attract a good catch.

Fishermen believed that this stone can be found in the kidneys of a large beluga, and it is the size of a chicken egg - flat and oval in shape. The owner of such a stone could exchange it for a very expensive product, but it is still not clear whether there really were such stones, or the craftsmen forged them. Even today, some anglers continue to believe this.
Another legend that at one time surrounded the beluga with an ominous halo is the poison of the beluga. Some considered the liver of young fish or the meat of the beluga to be poisonous, which could go astray, like a cat or a dog, as a result of which its meat became poisonous. Evidence for this has not yet been found.

The now almost extinct beluga. Not a particularly large specimen for this species. Photo from here

Sturgeon habitats in the past and present

Their distribution is limited to the northern hemisphere, where they inhabit rivers and seas in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Although there are over 20 worldwide various kinds sturgeons, which have different needs for biological and environmental conditions, they all have similar features.
Anadromous fish living in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas enters the rivers for spawning. Previously, the beluga was relatively numerous, but over time, its stocks became very scarce.
The Danube and the Black Sea at one time were the most active region for the distribution of a wide variety of beluga - up to 6 different species. Currently, one of the species is completely lost, and the remaining five are endangered.

In the Caspian Sea, the beluga is ubiquitous. For spawning, it enters mainly the Volga, in much smaller quantities - the Urals and the Kura, as well as the Terek. On the Far East Amur sturgeon lives. Almost all water bodies in Russia are suitable for sturgeon species. In the old days, sturgeons were caught even in the Neva.

Overfishing and the black market for caviar

Overfishing, once legal but now illegal, is one of the direct threats to the survival of the Danube sturgeons. Because of their long life cycle, and late maturity, sturgeons are especially vulnerable to overfishing, whose tribe takes many years to recover.
In 2006, Romania was the first country to announce a ban on sturgeon fishing. The ten-year ban will expire at the end of 2015. Following the appeal of the EU, Bulgaria also announced a ban on sturgeon fishing. Despite the ban, poaching seems to be still widespread throughout the Danube region, although concrete evidence of illegal fishing is difficult to obtain. It is well known that the black market for caviar is thriving. One reason for overfishing is the high price of caviar. Illegally harvested caviar in Bulgaria and Romania can also be bought in other EU countries. Thanks to the first study of the black market for caviar, conducted in Bulgaria and Romania in 2011-2012, experts from the World Wide Fund for Nature were able to trace the distribution of smuggled goods in Europe.

Danube beluga, the same age as dinosaurs

Iron Gate Dam disrupted migration routes

Migration for spawning is one of the most important parts of the natural life cycle of all sturgeons in the Danube. In the past, the beluga rose up the river to Serbia, and in the distant past it even reached Passau in eastern Bavaria, but now its path is artificially blocked already on the middle Danube.

Located below the Iron Gates, in the narrow Jardap gorge, between Romania and Serbia, the Iron Gates hydroelectric power plant and reservoir are the largest along the Danube. The hydroelectric power plant was built at 942 and 863 kilometers of the river upstream of the Danube Delta. As a result, by limiting the sturgeon migration path at 863 kilometers, and completely cutting off the most important spawning area on the middle Danube. As a result, the sturgeons found themselves locked in the section of the river in front of the dam, and now they are no longer able to continue their natural path, familiar to them for thousands of years, to the spawning site. Trapped in such unnatural conditions, the sturgeon population suffers the negative effects of inbreeding and loses genetic variability.

Beluga range on the Danube lost

Sturgeons are very sensitive to changes in their range. These changes immediately affect spawning, wintering, the possibility of finding good food and, ultimately, lead to the extinction of the genus. Most sturgeon species spawn on the clear pebbly edge of the lower Danube, where they lay their eggs before returning to the Black Sea. Successful spawning must be carried out at great depths at a temperature of at least 9-15 degrees.
The sturgeon population has suffered greatly as a result of the loss of the original and corresponding to this type of fish habitat on the Danube. Strengthening the banks and dividing the river into channels, building powerful engineering structures, protecting against floods, reduced by 80% the natural floodplains and wetlands that were part of river system. Navigation is also one of the major threats to the sturgeon range, mainly as a result of activities that include dredging and dredging on the river. Extraction of sand and gravel, soil changes produced by the underwater part of the vessel also have a detrimental effect on the sturgeon population in the Danube.

The threat of extinction of the Danube sturgeon is so great that if urgent and radical measures are not taken, then in a few decades this majestic silvery fish can only be seen in museums. That is why the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature and the European Commission, within the framework of the European Community Strategy for the Danube Region, are carrying out a number of projects and international studies in order to develop measures to save the Danube beluga. sources

Let me remind you a few more big fish: or for example The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -