Danube sturgeon on the brink of extinction?

Danube sturgeon on the brink of extinction?

By Nick Thorpe

Source: BBC News

4/9/2011

Catching a sturgeon could once have changed a Danube fisherman's life but modern dams and over-fishing mean they are rapidly dying out.

"The beauty of the sturgeon," explains Radu Suciu, "is that this is an armoured fish."

And he takes down from his shelf his visitor's box, which rattles.

Inside is a mixture not of fish bones - the thin things which get stuck in your throat and you have to eat bread to dislodge - but chunks of sturgeon skeletons.

The complete one looks like a fossil, with its distinctive, long, sharp nose.

The sturgeon has been around for a lot longer than humans - at least 200 million years. It is such a perfect design that it has hardly changed.

Multiple threats

"The sturgeon is not a good swimmer," continues Radu, "but it is a good climber."

He fishes out two long, yellow pectoral bones that the fish uses to anchor itself on the bed of fast-flowing rivers like the Danube, which it goes up every few years to spawn.

At the famous underwater cataracts at the Iron Gates, between Romania and Serbia, the river climbs steeply.

Sturgeon

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
5051	Огромная мертвая рыба принесла богатство пожилой женщине	The Times of India.	2020-10-01	IN
5052	Scientists discover ‘walking’ fish in depths of Barrier Reef	australian times	2020-09-11	AU
5053	At Monterey Bay Aquarium, the sea animals are doing great but business is tanking	Los Angeles Times	2020-09-15	US
5054	Slippery when wet: Fish, seaweed to help cargo ships reduce fluid friction	upi	2020-09-15	US
5055	Fish exposed to noise pollution likely to die early: Study	channelnews asia	2020-09-16	US
5056	Resort owners accused of illegally harvesting prized bait fish	Associated Press	2020-09-11	US
5057	Lamprey fish have terrifying teeth and no jaw — but there's a global movement to save this living fossil	abc	2020-09-11	CA
5058	Manitoba chiefs, commercial fishers call for independent review of Lake Winnipeg's fish population	CBC News	2020-09-12	CA
5059	60-pound chinook part of a ‘unicorn’ year for fishing, says Comox guide	comoxvalley record	2020-09-14	CA
5060	Illegal fishing in Mexico and policy responses	brookings	2020-09-14	MX
5061	‘Marathon man’ angler unofficially breaks own world record catching 2,645 fish in 24 hours	foxwilmington	2020-09-11	US
5062	Horrifying Images Reveal Bizarre Parasite That Replaces Tongue of Its Fish Host and Feeds on Blood	newsweek	2020-08-12	AU
5063	Overlooked Sea Louse May Be a Big Problem for Salmon	hakaimagazine	2020-09-16	CA
5064	Aquarium Fish, Hold the Cyanide	hakaimagazine	2020-08-13	ID
5065	Сахалин и Камчатка урегулируют промысел лосося у Северных Курил	Российская Газета	2020-09-25	RU
5066	Продажи в РФ байкальского омуля в 4 раза больше разрешенного вылова	interfax	2020-09-24	RU
5067	На Дальнем Востоке впервые в России поймали редчайшую большую рыбу	zen.yandex	2020-08-05	CA
5068	Rare fish washes ashore at Whiffen Spit	The Times Colonist	2020-09-22	CA
5069	13-year-old angler fishes 100 straight days	kare11	2020-08-07	US
5070	Рыбаки думали, что это бревно, а оказалась редкая рыба	zen.yandex	2020-09-14	RU
5071	Какая река впадает сразу в два океана (находится в России)	zen.yandex	2020-07-02	RU
5072	Angler conflicts,’ illegal activities result in restrictions at popular salmon fishing site	mlive	2020-09-11	US
5073	The mystery of the shrinking fish: Alaska's salmon are getting smaller	the guardian	2020-09-08	US
5074	He caught a big fish near Key West. But he went to jail after bragging about it	miami herald	2020-09-08	CA
5075	Dead fish along NMB shoreline pose no threat, officials say	wpde	2020-09-11	US

202 of [221 - pages.]