Talking about the sterlet in Slovenia and southern Austria, a sturgeon species that already swam the rivers in the age of the dinosaurs, is no easy task. In recent decades, people rarely saw it, and hardly anyone spoke about it. Its presence among Slovenians had been largely forgotten, a similar situation to that in Styria, Austria.
However, the first winds of change were felt on Tuesday, 11 November 2025, when 300 young sterlets were released into the Mura River. Their charming appearance immediately won the hearts of everyone present.
The release took place during the stakeholder event of the 5th Steering Committee Meeting of the UNESCO Five Country Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Mura–Drava–Danube, specifically during the signing of the goMURa Declaration on the Bridge of Friendship between Austria and Slovenia in Bad Radkersburg.
The declaration signing and the release were carried out by the Slovenian Minister for Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, Mr. Jože Novak, and the Austrian Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, Mr. Norbert Totschnig. During the event, project partners BOKU and REVIVO joined forces to present the purpose of the LIFE-Boat4Sturgeons project and invited everyone to support the shared mission of protecting sturgeons and the Mura River. Members of the public were invited to participate and release 300 fish into the Mura River, from where the sterlets can freely swim toward the Drava and the Danube.
Before the event, REVIVO, together with the production house We Cam, captured valuable footage of free-swimming sterlets in the Mura River, close to Apače, where the hatchery will be. The material will be used in a documentary that will highlight the threats faced by sterlets and free-flowing rivers, explain the purpose of sterlet restocking to help establish a numerous, stable, and resilient population capable of withstanding future challenges, and showcase the good practices taking place along the Mura River as part of the LB4S project.
The documentary will be broadcast on National Radio and Television Slovenia in 2026. Its release will also be announced in the LB4S news.
With the sterlet hatchery container soon to be installed in Apače, on the banks of the Mura River, as part of the LIFE-Boat4Sturgeons project, the REVIVO Institute, together with project partner BOKU and others, is eager to continue sterlet releases throughout 2026 until 2030.
Join us!
