March 11, 2003

For More Information:

Fred Binkowski , UW Great Lakes WATER Institute, (414) 382-1723

Harald Rosenthal, University of Kiel , Germany , (011) 49-40-700-6514

Stephen Wittman, UW Sea Grant Program Information Specialist, (608) 263-5371

Fisheries Experts to Launch World Sturgeon Conservation Society

HAMBURG , Germany ( March 10, 2003 ) – While much of the world is in conflict, scientists from Asia, Europe and the United States are joining together to save an ancient fish from extinction. The group convenes March 10-12 in Hamburg , Germany, to launch an international nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and enhancing sturgeon stocks worldwide.

 

Sturgeon are among the oldest fishes in the world, swimming in lakes and rivers since dinosaurs roamed the shores. The fish are prized for their delicate flesh and world-famous caviar. Once abundant in lakes and rivers throughout the Northern Hemisphere, sturgeon stocks have plummeted, mostly due to over-harvest and severe habitat changes over the last century.

 

Fred Binkowski , senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Ron Bruch, sturgeon biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR); and Serge Doroshov, professor of animal science at the University of California-Davis will join researchers from Germany, Italy, France, Russia, China and Iran in formally launching the World Sturgeon Conservation Society.

 

“Sturgeon scientists, researchers, fishermen, aquaculturalists and conservationists have a common goal, which is to ensure the survival of sturgeon worldwide,” said Binkowski, fisheries biologist with the UW Sea Grant Institute. “Our vision for this society is to see stocks thriving again in important sturgeon waters like the Caspian Sea and the Great Lakes region of the United States.”

 

Research and management activities have intensified since the 1970s in efforts to stem eradication of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and other areas, and to restore sturgeon in areas such as the Great Lakes region in the United States and European waterways, according to Binkowski.

 

With the price of North American caviar as high as $800 a pint and Russian black caviar at $1,200 a pint, coupled with the collapse of sturgeon fisheries worldwide, the market is also susceptible to illegal trade.

 

“Formation of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society is a vital step toward the future of sturgeon management and restoration,” Bruch said.

 

The society will facilitate the international information exchange needed to address the problems facing sturgeon around the world: especially over-harvesting, illegal poaching and habitat destruction, according to Bruch.

 

“Most of the world’s fisheries are ‘straddling stocks’ that cross international borders,” said Harald Rosenthal, professor of fisheries biology and aquaculture at the University of Kiel in Germany . “This new society provides a platform on which we can build consensus and continuity, and focus on strategic rather than short-term, problem-solving research.”

 

“As living fossils, sturgeon have enormous value for science and biodiversity on our planet,” said Doroshov. “We hope this new society will enhance international collaboration in research, protection and aquaculture of sturgeon.”

 

The idea for the World Sturgeon Conservation Society grew out of an international sturgeon symposium held in Wisconsin in July 2001, cosponsored by the UW Sea Grant Institute and the WDNR, among others. The symposium drew more than 400 scientists and focused on the state’s successful management of its lake sturgeon fishery.

 

In addition to facilitating the flow of information, the society will seek to raise public awareness of the plight of this ancient fish. It also will promote the sponsorship of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research on all aspects sturgeon biology and management on a world-wide basis and support better cooperation between fishermen, natural scientists, governmental agencies and local communities.

 

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Conceived in 1966, Sea Grant is a national network of 30 university-based programs of research, outreach and education dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of the United States' coastal, ocean and Great Lakes resources. The National Sea Grant Network is a partnership of participating coastal states, private industry and the National Sea Grant College Program , National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration , U.S. Department of Commerce. The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program is administered by the Sea Grant Institute on the UW-Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

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last updated 21 July 2003

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