LIFE FOR DANUBE STURGEONS – a project of WWF in Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority in Romania and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany, co-funded by the European Union – has come to an end. In cooperation with fishermen, enforcement authorities and retailers in […]
Almost 1/3 of sturgeon caviar and meat products in four key countries were sold illegally. 214 cases of poaching related incidents were recorded by authorities. 7 out of 8 sturgeon species in Europe are threatened with extinction. Vienna, 12 April – With all but one of Europe’s remaining sturgeon species facing extinction, a […]
Since sturgeons like to swim on the gravelly bottom, the present low water level in the Tisza River has enabled poachers to set nets under more favourable conditions in the shallows. Once again, it turned out that the dead of night is the time when poachers are most active. However, fish wardens around the Banat […]
The Danube River, its vast Danube Delta and the Black Sea coast are very large areas that need to be kept under surveillance to detect and prevent illegal fishing of critically endangered sturgeons. However, only rather few law enforcement officials are available to monitor large stretches of river or coastline. The limited patrols are not […]
Eldridge Cleaver’s paraphrased quotation became the motto of the international online “Engaging Fishing Communities in Conservation Workshop” on May 5. The workshop introduced 30 key sturgeon experts and practitioners to the LIFE for Danube Sturgeons Project Team, and provided the team with advisory and technical support. At the core of the exchange of practices were […]
As part of the LIFE FOR DANUBE STURGEONS Project, trainings were held in Vidin and Svishtov, Bulgaria shortly before Bulgaria was put in COVID-19 lockdown. The trainings were aimed to increase the expertise and engagement of key institutions responsible for the implementation of the national sturgeon protection legislation. The engagement of law enforcement units is […]
26-27 February 2020 (Belgrade, Serbia) – WWF Adria-Serbia and the Ministry of Environment brought together inspectors, police officials, prosecutors and judges from all parts of Serbia to enhance mutual cooperation in the field of wildlife crime. The training was held in conjunction with the CITES Convention Implementation Group and aimed to improve detection, prosecution and […]
WWF- Romania delivered a series of training sessions for representatives of the Romanian Police, General Directorate of Customs, Danube Delta Police Service and the National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture in the second half of 2019. More than 200 officials were trained to detect illegal trade in sturgeon meat and caviar. The majority of the […]
Such unusual gathering of juvenile sturgeon is caused by a destroyed river ecosystem in the region. During a planned monitoring expedition, part of “LIFE for Danube Sturgeons” project, the WWF Bulgaria team of experts registered 100 young Sterlet, found close to Vetren village, on the Bulgarian part of the Danube River. “The unusual gathering of […]
A Sturgeon conference under the Austrian EU Presidency took place in Vienna on 9 and 10 July. High-ranking experts from the European Union (EU) and neighbouring countries met in Vienna to discuss the transnational protection of sturgeon species in the Danube River. The event was organised jointly by the International Commission for the Protection of […]
Scientists, activists and fishermen have joined forces to save the endangered wild Sterlet in Serbia. WWF Serbia, the United Anglers of Serbia, the Association of Commercial Fishermen of Serbia, supported by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), have signed a letter to the Ministry of Environmental Protection requesting a temporary five-year ban on fishing […]
In contrast to the protected status of Sterlet in other states in the Lower Danube region, where catching wild sturgeon is strictly prohibited, fishing Sterlet in the Republic of Serbia is allowed. The rest of the endangered Danube sturgeon species are already under legal protection in Serbia. Recently the public enterprise “Srbijašume” banned commercial and […]
