Pierwszy sztuczny rozród jesiotra ostronosego w Polsce

To nie jedyny nasz sukces w badaniach nad jesiotrami.

Wiosną 2020 roku udało się nam doprowadzić do skutecznego sztucznego tarła jesiotra ostronosego.

Przeprowadzony sztuczny rozród jest pierwszym tego typu przypadkiem w Polsce, a być może również w Europie. Jego unikatowość polega na tym, że dotyczył osobników (zarówno samicy, jak i samców) całkowicie wychowanych od stadium ikry w warunkach kontrolowanych w systemie recyrkulacyjnym.

Inland Fisheries Institute, Poland supports the rescue action of Baltic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus)

The Baltic sturgeon has been an integral part of the Baltic fauna until the middle of the 20th century. Populations of the species have dramatically decreased during the last centuries. Subsequently, the species became extinct in the Baltic range states during second half of the 20th century. Environmental pollution, overfishing, increased river transport, and damming were the most important long-term anthropogenic factors that contributed to the extinction of the species in this region.

The Baltic sturgeon have been successfully bred in captivity by the Department of Sturgeon Fish Breeding at the Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn, Poland.

In the early 2000s a small number of fertilized A. oxyrinchus eggs from the Saint John River (Canada) stock was hatched and cultured in Poland. Under aquaculture conditions, the first males matured at 11 years of age, but females did not mature before the age of 14. The first maturing females were found in spring 2020. For the first time ever, a Baltic sturgeon was bred from specimens raised in captivity. The fertilised eggs were incubated and monitored, to ensure that embryonic development was completely normal. Larval production and hatching were successful, and the juveniles will be released into the Oder River.

Successfully breeding the species in captivity, is particularly important considering the current efforts for this species recovery in Baltic Sea basin. Breeding Baltic sturgeon in captivity is still far from being routine, but the outlook is promising.