Bořek Drozd from the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, right, releasing the sterlets. (source: BROZ)
The sterlet is the last of the five Danube sturgeon species – which once included the legendary beluga – to have survived in this region. And even that is only because, unlike the other four, it does not need to migrate to the sea. For this reason, barriers such as hydroelectric structures do not pose such critical obstacles for it as they do for the other sturgeon species. However, even its population is in decline.
Thousands of young sterlets released into the old Danube riverbed near the dam in Čunovo in mid-May are expected to help boost the numbers of this endangered fish species.
Partners from the #Life_LivingRivers project, based at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, transported the young sterlets from a hatchery in Pohořelice, southern Bohemia. They are the offspring of Danube sturgeon parents and are therefore returning to their native waters.
