Sturgeon Ban in Danube

The good news is that the riverine states in Eastern Europe are now doing the things necessary to preserve sturgeon stocks.

I expect that in time the sturgeon will become an important source of farmed fish.  The methodology was worked out just before the USSR collapsed and about now would be a good time to get serious.

Importantly, it specializes in a food niche that does not detract from other fisheries at all.

I also think non migratory Russian sturgeon is especially suited to Canadian boreal forest lake fisheries along with a nonmigratory Coho salmon stock recently developed.  A selective fall harvest combined with winter feeding for the Coho should produce a sustainable high volume fishery throughout Canada’s massive lake system quite sufficient to millions of tons of fish for the global market.

In the meantime another commons fishery is now coming under control.

WWF welcomes first Bulgaria ban on Danube sturgeon fishing

by Staff Writers

Sofia (AFP) May 2, 2011

http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/WWF_welcomes_first_Bulgaria_ban_on_Danube_sturgeon_fishing_999.html

The environmental group WWF welcomed on Monday Bulgaria's ban on catching sturgeon in the Danube, as the species faces extinction due to overfishing for its caviar.

The WWF welcomed the one-year ban, imposed in March, as "a great step" to help save the species.

"Danube sturgeons, the ancient migratory fish that are today teetering on the brink of extinction due to overfishing because of their valuable caviar, have new hope for survival," it said in a statement.

The ban was the first restriction on sturgeon fishing on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, and the country's Fisheries and Aquaculture Agency has said it plans to impose a further five-year ban in 2012.

Neighbouring Romania already imposed a 10-year moratorium on sturgeon catching in April 2006.

But this one-sided ban could not have any impact if fishermen across the river in Bulgaria were still catching sturgeons, the WWF said.

The Black Sea is the second largest sturgeon fishery in the world after the Caspian Sea, and the Danube upstream is one of the most important spawning habitats for giant Belugasturgeons.

The ancient fish, which outlasted the dinosaurs, has been critically endangered by overfishing for its caviar, which can cost over 6,000 euros (8,900 dollars) per kilogramme, the WWF said.