More than 50,000 Siberian sturgeon fry have been released into the Charu River, a tributary of the Lena River, in the Kalarsky District of Russia, the latest phase in an ongoing initiative to restore the critically endangered species.
The first batch – around 14,000 young – was released in 2023 with the support of Udokan Copper. By 2028, a total of some 300,000 fry are expected to be released into the rivers in the northern part of Transbaikal.The Siberian sturgeon were raised at a specialised facility in Chita. Once they reached the required size and weight – at least 1.2 grams – each fry was carefully measured and selected before being transported to the release site. Early July was chosen as the optimal release time, allowing the young sturgeon to adapt and grow before winter.
In the early 20th century, the Siberian sturgeon was the most common species in the waters of northern Transbaikal. Due to their high market value, unregulated fishing and weakening of conservation measures, however, the species was driven to the brink of extinction. The sturgeon population declined sharply as the region was developed during the Soviet period; by the 1990s, it was added to the list of critically endangered species in Transbaikal.
According to Roman Garmaev, Head of the Angara-Baikal Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, the project will improve the state of aquatic biological resources considerably and increase the Siberian sturgeon population. He emphasised that the release of the fry was being closely monitored by state inspectors.
The fry are being raised and released in stages over several years. The initial restocking took place in 2023, when 14,000 Siberian sturgeon fry were released into the Chara River. From 2024 through 2028, 50,000 fry will be released annually. According to Yevgeny Gaiduchenko, Deputy CEO of Udokan Copper, around 300,000 fry will be released into northern bodies of water in the Kalarsky District in just six years.
The project is being carried out within the framework of an agreement with the Angara-Baikal Department of the Federal Agency for Fisheries focused on the artificial reproduction of aquatic biological resources. Experts have assessed the quality of the water in the Chara River, confirming that it is in full compliance with standards for the release of fish. Moreover, Russian water-quality standards for bodies of water used for fishing are among the most stringent in the world.
