STURGEON (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: According to a new report, poaching and trafficking are jeopardizing the survival of four critically endangered sturgeon species in one of their last strongholds in the lower Danube River, southeastern Europe.

Sturgeon

• About: Sturgeons represent a natural heritage of the Danube River Basin and key indicator species for high ecological quality of rivers.

o These species are among the most threatened fish globally.

• Habitat: 27 species of sturgeons and paddlefishes distributed across the Northern hemisphere.
• Threats: Blocked migration routes through dams, Loss or degradation of habitats, and Pollution.
• IUCN Red list: four sturgeon species in the Danube Basin are listed as Threatened by the IUCN Red List. The stellate sturgeon (A. stellatus), the Russian sturgeon (A. gueldenstaedtii) and beluga (Huso huso) are Critically Endangered; while the sterlet (A. ruthenus) was recently raised to a higher threat category and has been listed as Endangered since 2022.
• CITES: Appendix-II.

Danube River

• About: Danube River, the second longest in Europe after the Volga. 
• Origin: It rises in the Black Forest mountains of western Germany and flows for some 1,770 miles (2,850 km) to its mouth on the Black Sea.
• Passes: 10 countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine.