Spectacular find: Catch of 0+ juvenile fish in the Danube
The team achieved a significant success in the fall of 2024: in the course of regular monitoring, which has been carried out since 2018, twelve young sterlets were caught for the first time, which, based on their size, must have clearly hatched in the spring of 2024 and grown up in the wild. The young sterlets could either come from the release of 1.5 cm larvae in spring 2024 or – which would be a sensation – from the first documented natural reproduction in Lower Austria or Vienna in over 40 years.
Major milestone reached: 500,000 released sterlets
As a new project partner, the Haus des Meeres has transformed a 13 000 liter aquarium into a Danube basin. Juvenile sturgeons are being raised here to serve as future broodstock, helping to sustain the sturgeon population in the Danube.
Construction of the LIFE-Boat nears completion
As a new project partner, the Haus des Meeres has transformed a 13 000 liter aquarium into a Danube basin. Juvenile sturgeons are being raised here to serve as future broodstock, helping to sustain the sturgeon population in the Danube.
Cooperation with Haus des Meeres
As a new project partner, the Haus des Meeres has transformed a 13 000 liter aquarium into a Danube basin. Juvenile sturgeons are being raised here to serve as future broodstock, helping to sustain the sturgeon population in the Danube.
Strong for Sturgeons
Bob Kreiken, a nature and biology enthusiast from the Netherlands, embarked a two-month expedition of 3.500 kilometers across Europe, along the Rhine by bicycle and Danube by kayak.
A unique migration run
The Danube River Basin was formerly home to six sturgeon species, namely beluga, Russian, stellate, ship, European sturgeon and sterlet. All are highly endangered or, in in the case of ship and European sturgeon, already extinct in the Danube. In the past these ancient fish migrated nearly 2000 km from the Danube Delta to Vienna to spawn, a journey undertaken for millions of years.
Danube Day 2024
With the largest mobile aquarium in Europe placed in the heart of Vienna from June 21st to 23rd, attention was drawn to the precarious situation of the sturgeons and the importance of preserving and protecting the unique habitat of the Danube.
Release
The sturgeons from the project are stocked in various sizes to maximize survival rates, starting at sizes below 1 cm. The last batch of the 2023 year class was released at the end of February with an average size of 25 cm, equipped with PIT and color tags.
Adopt a sturgeon and save them from extinction
Sturgeons are the world’s most endangered group of animals. Two of the six sturgeon species that previously inhabited the Danube River Basin have already become extinct in the area.
Successful sterlet rearing in 2023
This year a total of 35.380 sterlets were released into the Austrian Danube and tributaries. A couple hundred individuals are still in the hatchery and are kept for further reproduction and the living genetic databank.