Activities for the restoration of the beluga population Huso huso (Linnaeus 1758) in the Azov Sea basin in 2020-2023

Abstract

For a long period, the Azov Sea was the second largest reservoir in the world after the Caspian Sea in terms of sturgeon fish reserves and catches. However, it has now lost its status as one of the most productive water bodies. Anthropogenic transformation of the natural hydrological regime of the main sturgeon spawning water bodies in the Azov basin (a dam on the Don River was built in 1952 and on the Kuban River in 1973) led to the almost complete loss of natural spawning. As a result, the number of sturgeons in the Azov Sea has decreased to critically low levels, leading to a fishing ban since 2000. The fishing of beluga Huso huso (Linnaeus 1758) (Acipenseridae Bonaparte 1831) in the Azov Sea was banned even earlier—in 1985. In 2001, the Don Sturgeon Hatchery was commissioned in the Azov Sea basin, with the main task of artificially reproducing sturgeon and releasing them into the Don River. The purpose of this work was to analyze the activities for the restoration of the beluga population in the Azov Sea during the period from 2020 to 2023. Over the course of 2020-2023, a total of 994,107 million juvenile beluga of factory origin were released into the Azov Sea basin.