Beluga Far East. Beluga fish: meaning and artificial breeding. Overfishing and the black market for caviar

Beluga is a freshwater fish that has survived to this day from ancient times. Its ancestors existed on earth as early as the Jurassic period, which was 200 million years ago.

This is the largest of all freshwater fish that have ever existed on our planet. Her body can reach a length of about five meters, and she can weigh about two tons.

This giant fish there is only one relative - this is kaluga, which lives in the Far Eastern rivers.

The body of a beluga is shaped like a torpedo, it narrows towards the tail, and five rows of bone plates pass along its sides, which are also called shields, the task of which is to protect the fish from external influences. The upper part of this fish is colored greenish or dark gray, and its belly is usually white.

The muzzle of the beluga has a peculiar shape: its lower part is elongated and slightly turned up. It is on this part of it that the antennae are located, which have the functions of the organs of smell. Behind them is a mouth shaped like a sickle. Different-sex representatives of this species do not differ from each other in color. But in size, females are superior to males.

The main habitat of the beluga is the Caspian Sea, although it can also be found in other seas - for example, the Azov, Black or Adriatic. But with the approach of the spawning period, the beluga leaves the salty waters and goes upstream. freshwater rivers, and rises quite high on them. Belugas lead a solitary lifestyle, making exceptions only for the spawning period, in order to mate.

Spawning takes place in the spring, and not every year. As a rule, this fish needs a break of 2 to 4 years. After the female rises up the river, she lays a huge number of eggs - from three hundred thousand to seven and a half million. After that, he considers his mission accomplished and returns back to the sea. Young beluga hatch into the light somewhere in May-June and immediately fully show their predatory character. The main food for them at this time are small invertebrates. So, refreshing along the way, the Belugas gradually move towards the sea. In a month they grow up to 7-10 cm, and in a year - up to 1 meter.

Under favorable circumstances, a female can spawn about nine times in her life. But the fact that this fish and its caviar are of great commercial value does not allow it to live, in most cases, even half of the time measured by nature. They catch it both legally and illegally.

They say that this is the king-beluga. And on the Internet, a new MEM has already broken out in the likeness of a sad cat and a stoned fox - a sad fish. Let's find out more about her...

This is the Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore.

The Astrakhan Museum has two record sturgeons, - one 4-meter (slightly smaller than the one that Nicholas II presented to the Kazan Museum) and the largest - 6-meter. the largest beluga, six meters long. They caught her at the same time as the four-meter one, in 1989. The poachers caught the world's largest beluga, gutted the caviar, and then called the museum and said where you can pick up a "fish" the size of a huge truck.

Stuffed Beluga, Huso huso
Type: stuffed animal
Author: Golovachev V.I.
Dating: The stuffed animal was made in 1990.
Size: length - 4 m 20 cm, weight - 966 kg
Description: Beluga - valuable commercial fish sturgeon family, common in the basins of the Caspian, Black, Azov seas. In 1989 it was caught by fishermen. Weight 966 kg, caviar weight 120 kg, age 70-75 years, length 4 m 20 cm. The stuffed animal was made by taxidermist Golovachev V.I. in 1990
Organization: Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore

Existing for over 200 million years, sturgeons are close to extinction today. The Danube, in the region of Romania and Bulgaria, has one of the most viable wild sturgeon populations in Europe. Danube sturgeons are one of the most important indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Most of them live in the Black Sea and migrate up the Danube to spawn. They reach 6 meters in length and live up to 100 years.

Illegal fishing and barbaric extermination, mainly for caviar, is one of the main dangers threatening sturgeons. Habitat loss and disruption of sturgeon migration routes is another big threat to this unique species. By founding, with the participation of the European Community, the Life + programme, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with the support of others international organizations has been working on these problems in recent years.

Type and origin

Sturgeon breeds include: beluga, stellate sturgeon, sturgeon, sterlet. In the fossil state, sturgeon fish are known only from the Eocene (85.8-70.6 million years ago). In terms of zoogeography, representatives of the shovel-nosed subfamily are very interesting, which are found on the one hand in Central Asia, on the other - in North America, which allows you to see in modern types this genus is the remains of a previously widespread fauna. Sturgeons are one of the most unique and attractive species of ancient fish. They have existed for more than 200 million years, and have lived since the time when dinosaurs inhabited our planet. From their unusual appearance, in their robes of bone plates, they remind us of ancient times, when special armor or a strong carapace was needed in order to survive. They have survived to this day, almost unchanged.

Alas, today all existing species of sturgeon are in danger or even endangered.

Sturgeons are the largest freshwater fish

Beluga book of records

Beluga is not only the largest of the sturgeons, but also the largest fish caught in fresh waters. There are cases when specimens up to 9 meters long and weighing up to 2000 kg came across. Today, individuals weighing more than 200 kg are rarely seen, transitions to spawning have become too dangerous.
In "Research on the state of fisheries in Russia", in 1861, it was reported about a beluga caught in 1827 in the lower reaches of the Volga, which weighed 1.5 tons.

On May 11, 1922, in the Caspian Sea, near the mouth of the Volga, a female weighing 1224 kilograms was caught, while 667 kilograms fell on her body, 288 kilograms on her head, and 146.5 kilograms on caviar (see photo). Once again, a female of the same size was caught in 1924 in the Caspian Sea near the Biryuchaya Spit, the caviar in it was 246 kilograms, and the total number of eggs was about 7.7 million.

A little to the east, before the mouth of the Urals, on May 3, 1926, a 75-year-old female weighing more than 1 ton and 4.24 meters long was caught, in which there were 190 kilograms of caviar. The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan presents a stuffed beluga 4.17 meters long, mined in the lower reaches of the Volga at the beginning of the 20th century. Its weight when caught was about 1000 kilograms, the age of the fish is 60-70 years.

In October 1891, when the wind stole water from the Taganrog Bay Sea of ​​Azov, a peasant passing by the exposed shore, found a beluga in one of the puddles, pulling 20 pounds (327 kg), of which 3 pounds (49 kg) fell on caviar.

Lifestyle

All sturgeons migrate long distances for spawning and in search of food. Some migrate between salt and fresh water, while others live only in fresh water all their lives. They breed in fresh waters and have a long life cycle as they take years, sometimes decades, to reach maturity when they are first able to produce offspring. While the annual successful spawning is almost unpredictable, and depends on the available range, suitable current and temperature, specific spawning sites, periodicity and migration are predictable. Natural crossing is possible between any species of sturgeon. In addition to the spring move to the rivers for spawning, sturgeon fish sometimes enter the rivers also in autumn - for wintering. These fish tend to stay near the bottom.

According to the method of feeding, the beluga is a predator, feeding mainly on fish, but also on mollusks, worms, and insects. Begins to prey even as a fry in the river. In the sea, it feeds mainly on fish (herring, sprats, gobies, etc.), but does not neglect mollusks. In the stomachs Caspian beluga even seal pups (babies) were found.

Beluga takes care of her offspring

Beluga is a long-lived fish reaching the age of 100 years. Unlike Pacific salmon, which die after spawning, beluga, like other sturgeons, can spawn many times in a lifetime. After spawning, they migrate back to the sea. Caspian beluga males reach puberty at the age of 13-18 years, and females - at 16-27 (mainly at 22-27) years. The fertility of the beluga, depending on the size of the female, ranges from 500 thousand to a million (in exceptional cases - up to 5 million) eggs.
Beluga in nature independent view, but can hybridize with sterlet, stellate sturgeon, spike and sturgeon. With the help of artificial insemination, viable hybrids were obtained - beluga-sterlet (bester). Sturgeon hybrids are successfully grown in pond (aquaculture) farms.

There are many myths and legends associated with the beluga. For example, in ancient times, fishermen talked about the miraculous biluzhin stone, which is able to heal a person from any disease, protect from troubles, save the ship from a storm and attract a good catch.

The fishermen believed that this stone can be found in the kidneys of a large beluga, and it is as large as egg- flat and oval shape. The owner of such a stone could exchange it for a very expensive product, but it is still not clear whether such stones really existed, or the craftsmen forged them. Even today, some anglers continue to believe this.
Another legend that at one time surrounded the beluga with an ominous halo is the poison of the beluga. Some considered the liver of young fish or the meat of the beluga to be poisonous, which could go astray, like a cat or a dog, as a result of which its meat became poisonous. Evidence for this has not yet been found.

The now almost extinct beluga. Not a particularly large specimen for this species.

Sturgeon habitats in the past and present

Their distribution is limited to the northern hemisphere, where they inhabit rivers and seas in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Although there are more than 20 different sturgeon species around the world with different biological and ecological requirements, they all have similar characteristics.
Anadromous fish living in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas enters the rivers for spawning. Previously, the beluga was relatively numerous, but over time, its stocks became very scarce.
The Danube and the Black Sea at one time were the most active region for the distribution of a wide variety of beluga - up to 6 different species. Currently, one of the species is completely lost, and the remaining five are endangered.

In the Caspian Sea, the beluga is ubiquitous. For spawning, it enters mainly the Volga, in much smaller quantities - the Urals and the Kura, as well as the Terek. On Far East Amur sturgeon lives. Almost all water bodies in Russia are suitable for sturgeon species. In the old days, sturgeons were caught even in the Neva.

Overfishing and the black market for caviar

Overfishing - once legal but now illegal - is one of the direct threats to the survival of the Danube sturgeons. Due to their long life cycle and late maturity, sturgeons are especially vulnerable to overfishing, and their tribe takes many years to recover.
In 2006, Romania was the first country to announce a ban on sturgeon fishing. The ten-year ban will expire at the end of 2015. Following the appeal of the EU, Bulgaria also announced a ban on sturgeon fishing. Despite the ban, poaching seems to be still widespread throughout the Danube region, although concrete evidence of illegal fishing is difficult to obtain. It is well known that the black market for caviar is thriving. One reason for overfishing is the high price of caviar. Illegally harvested caviar in Bulgaria and Romania can also be bought in other EU countries. Thanks to the first study of the caviar black market, conducted in Bulgaria and Romania in 2011-2012, experts from the World Wide Fund for Nature were able to trace the distribution of smuggled goods in Europe.

Danube beluga, the same age as dinosaurs

Iron Gate Dam disrupted migration routes

Migration for spawning is one of the most important parts of the natural life cycle of all sturgeons in the Danube. In the past, the beluga rose up the river to Serbia, and in the distant past it even reached Passau in eastern Bavaria, but now its path is artificially blocked already on the middle Danube.

Located below the Iron Gates, in the narrow Jardap Gorge, between Romania and Serbia, the Iron Gates hydroelectric power plant and reservoir are the largest along the Danube. The hydroelectric power plant was built at 942 and 863 kilometers of the river upstream of the Danube Delta. As a result, by limiting the sturgeon migration path at 863 kilometers, and completely cutting off the most important spawning area on the middle Danube. As a result, the sturgeons found themselves locked in the section of the river in front of the dam, and now they are no longer able to continue their natural path, familiar to them for thousands of years, to the spawning site. Trapped in such unnatural conditions, the sturgeon population suffers the negative effects of inbreeding and loses genetic variability.

Beluga range on the Danube lost

Sturgeons are very sensitive to changes in their range. These changes immediately affect spawning, wintering, the possibility of finding good food and, ultimately, lead to the extinction of the genus. Most sturgeon species spawn on the clear pebbly edge of the lower Danube, where they lay their eggs before returning to the Black Sea. Successful spawning must be carried out at great depths at a temperature of at least 9-15 degrees.
The sturgeon population has suffered greatly as a result of the loss of the original and corresponding to this species habitat on the Danube. The strengthening of the banks and the division of the river into channels, the construction of powerful engineering structures that protect against floods, reduced by 80% the natural floodplains and wetlands that were part of the river system. Navigation is also one of the major threats to the sturgeon range, mainly as a result of activities that include dredging and dredging on the river. Extraction of sand and gravel, soil changes produced by the underwater part of the vessel also have a detrimental effect on the sturgeon population in the Danube.

The threat of extinction of the Danube sturgeon is so great that if urgent and radical measures are not taken, then in a few decades this majestic silvery fish can only be seen in museums. That is why the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube, together with World Foundation nature and the European Commission, within the framework of the European Community Strategy for the Danube region, are conducting a number of projects and international studies in order to develop measures to save the Danube beluga.

Beluga is a fish that is included in the sturgeon family. Due to overfishing of the sturgeon, this species of sturgeon is endangered. Perhaps this is the largest fish that is found in freshwater reservoirs.

Appearance

Beluga differs from other types of sturgeon in its overly large mouth, which has the shape of a half moon. The entire lower part of the snout of the beluga is occupied by the mouth of the fish. She has antennae that are flattened on the sides. And under the intergill gap there is a free fold. It is formed from gill membranes that are fused together.

There are bugs on the back of the beluga. The first bug - the one near the head, has the smallest sizes. Between the bugs on the fish skin, small granules and plates can be distinguished. And on the long mustache there are small appendages in the form of leaves. The body of the beluga is very thick, it has a cylindrical shape. The fish has a meek nose, which is compared with a pig's snout. The beluga body is painted ash-gray, but the belly is much lighter than the back. The maximum weight of a beluga can be up to 1,500 kilograms or more. In this case, the length of the body can be about 6 meters.

Distribution and migrations

It is impossible to say definitely where the beluga is found: it is an anadromous fish. It spawns in freshwater reservoirs - rivers, where it swims from the seas. Large individuals can find food only in the sea. The fish lives in the following seas: Black, Azov and Caspian. In the recent past, the number of beluga was large, but the fish is so valuable that beluga fishing did not stop. In addition, female large sturgeons are caught specifically for the collection of expensive black caviar.

In the waters of the Caspian Sea, fish can be found almost everywhere. Most of the fish for spawning swims in the Volga. The rest of the beluga swims to the Terek, Kura and Ural. In the old days, spawning fish climbed the Volga up to the city of Tver and to the headwaters of the Kama River. In the Ural River, she spawned everywhere, except for the upper reaches. Beluga has also been seen near the Iranian coast of the southern Caspian, and it went to the Gorgan River to spawn. From 1961 to 1989, the fish swam to the city of Volgograd. A special fish elevator was built for her at the local hydroelectric complex. However, he worked extremely unsatisfactorily. In the end, in 1989, the USSR considered the beluga fish elevator unnecessary and stopped using it. Along the Kura River, fish approach the Kura cascade of hydroelectric power stations, which is located in Azerbaijan. Single individuals were seen in the Southern Bug. Beluga has also been spotted in the Black Sea near the Crimean coast near Yalta. Here, the beluga was noticed at a depth of up to 180 meters, that is, in those places where hydrogen sulfide is present. They also noticed her near the Caucasian shores, from where she swam to spawn in the Rioni River. Near the Turkish shores, she went to spawn in the Eshilyrmak and Kyzylyrmak rivers. In the Dnieper River between Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye, quite large specimens weighing up to 300 kilograms came across. Extreme visits of the beluga were noted near Kiev and above. On the Desna River, she sailed to Vyshenki, and on the Sozh River she sailed to Gomel. Here, in the 1870s, a fish weighing 295 kilograms was caught. Most of the beluga swim to spawn from the Black Sea to the Danube River. In the past, fish along the Danube swam to Serbia, and in a very distant past they reached the city of Passau, which is located in Bavaria.

Diet

Big fish need a lot of food. There is not enough food in the rivers for huge sturgeons, so adults go to sea to feed. Beluga prefers to stay in the water column for different depth, which depends on the area of ​​distribution of organisms that are eaten by sturgeons. In the Black Sea, individuals penetrate to a depth of 160-180 meters, and in the Caspian Sea they are rarely found deeper than 100-140 meters. The youngest individuals of large sturgeons use invertebrates living on seabed. But as soon as the body length of the Beluga reaches 9-10 centimeters, they begin to hunt small fish. At first, Belugas prefer to live in shallow water near the mouths of rivers, which are well warmed up by the sun. As the fish grows, they move deeper into the sea.

The sizes of beluga individuals of equal age can differ significantly. It depends on nutrition. The largest are individuals that were the first to switch to food. small fish. The larger the beluga, the larger its prey becomes: anchovy, herring, sea gobies and fish belonging to the carp family. Adult fish can hunt both in the water column and on the seabed.

reproduction

Beluga lives for a very long time, almost up to 100 years. However, few individuals survive to this age, as they often become the prey of fishermen. This fish, like other large and long-lived animals, is characterized by late puberty. Males become sexually mature at the age of 12 to 14 years, and females from 16 to 18 years. Individuals of the Azov beluga ripen faster than all. Those fish that have reached sexual maturity swim from the sea to the rivers, where they further breed. Migration against the flow of the river is called catadromous (from Greek it means “running up”), and migration along the flow of water is usually called anadromous (“running down”). A long time ago, the beluga traveled like this for a very long time. In the 19th century, it began its journey from the Caspian Sea, rising high along the Volga River and sailing to its tributaries. Fishermen caught this fish near Tver, in the Kama, Oka and Vyatka rivers. Depending on what time of the year the beluga entered the river, it is customary to distinguish between the autumn and spring races of this fish. The spring race enters the river at the end of January until the middle of May, and the autumn race begins its course in August and until the beginning of December. The spring run beluga spawns, as a rule, in early June of the same year, as it entered the river, and the autumn run fish spend the winter in deep river pits. Belugas of the autumn course breed in the spring of next year. The same individual reproduces with an interval of several years. For spawning, this fish chooses deep places with rocky ridges and pebble placers, where the river current is quite fast. Males arrive at the spawning grounds a little earlier than females. Beluga eggs are fertilized in the same way as in the bulk bony fish, externally. During the spawning period, fish jumping out of the water can be observed. Most likely, the fish does this in order to facilitate the release of caviar. The number of eggs laid by the female varies from 200,000 to 8,000,000 oval eggs, which are 3.3-3.8 mm in diameter and dark gray in color. Beluga eggs are very sticky, which contributes to their good adhesion to stones. If the water temperature is from 12.6 to 13.8 degrees Celsius, then the incubation period is 8 days. The fry hatched from the eggs almost instantly switch to higher nutrition. The hatched beluga fry immediately begin to roll into the sea.

The biggest fish

Beluga is the most big fish, which can be caught in fresh water. Beluga fishing has been going on for a long time. No wonder they say that "sturgeon is a royal fish." The largest beluga caught is presented in the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan. The length of the fish was 4 meters and 17 centimeters, and the mass was equated to 1 ton.

In fact, the sturgeon from Tatarstan is not the largest sturgeon that has been caught from the river. There are cases when anglers were lucky enough to catch individuals about 9 meters in length. The mass of freshwater monsters at the same time was approximately 2 tons. At present, giant sturgeons cannot be found, since the pace of catching beluga does not allow the fish to gain a mass of more than 200 kilograms. In history, cases of catching the following record specimens are known:

• In the lower reaches of the Volga River in 1827, a beluga weighing 1,500 kilograms was caught;
• In 1992, on May 11, in the Caspian Sea, not far from the Volga mouth, a female beluga was caught, which weighed 1224 kilograms. The mass of her caviar was 146 kilograms and 500 grams, the head of the beluga weighed 288 kilograms, and the body - 667 kilograms;
• In the Caspian Sea near Biryuchaya Spit, two years later, a beluga of about the same mass as the previous one was caught. But in her body there were 246 kilograms of caviar, which amounted to almost 8 million eggs;
• Two years later, a 75-year-old beluga was caught near the mouth of the Urals. Her weight was over 1000 kilograms. The body length was 4 meters and 24 centimeters. The mass of caviar was 190 kilograms.

Beluga - a giant of the 20th century

In the autumn of 1891, water was blown away from the Taganrog Bay, which belongs to the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. A peasant passed by the shore, which had been freed from the water, and found that the Azov beluga was lying in a puddle. Its mass was 327 kilograms, which is equivalent to 20 pounds. The mass of beluga caviar was 49 kilograms, or 3 pounds. This Azov beluga has not such a record weight for that time, but for modern anglers, an individual of this weight would become a dream fish.

One of the most amazing fish, attracting attention with its size and lifestyle, is the beluga. A few decades ago, this individual was found in the waters of the Caspian and Azov Seas, in the Adriatic. TO today its range has shrunk. Fish are found in the Black Sea and the Urals. In the Volga and Azov, a very similar, but different subspecies is found, which in 90% of cases is grown artificially. Thanks to this, it is possible to maintain the population.

The habitat of the beluga is shrinking every year.

Description of the sea giant

Beluga fish is considered one of the largest and prominent representatives sturgeon family. Unlike other species, it has pronounced external features:

• obtuse small nose with a pointed end, slightly translucent due to the absence of bone shields;
• wide mouth with a thickened lower lip;
• very thick and well-fed cylindrical body;
• a small bug (thorn) on the dorsal row;
• grayish-dark shade of a giant body, white belly.

The most large beluga, which was ever caught, surprised with a weight of 1.5 tons and a body length of 4.2 meters. The trophy is stored in the Museum of Tatarstan, where thousands of amateurs and professional anglers come every year to see this miracle. It is impossible to catch a similar large specimen in our time, since the catch is in large industrial scale. Today, the largest beluga caught in the Volga weighs no more than 450-500 kg. The maximum weight of immature young animals is within 40 kg. On average, the mass of fish going to spawn is 100-120 kg (females) or 90 kg (males).

The giant sturgeon lives for more than a hundred years, if not caught in the nets of merciless fishermen. The population is under the protection of the Red Book, however, before the ban on extreme lovers fishing there is no business. In Russia, catching beluga is punishable by a heavy fine.

Beluga is listed in the Red Book

It is difficult to accurately name the environment and places where a huge sturgeon can live, because it is considered an anadromous species. He can be found both in the seas and in the rivers, where he has to swim in order to profit from tasty and affordable prey. During spawning, the beluga even goes to the Crimean coast or to freshwater places, where it can quickly destroy local inhabitants.

Nutrition and behavior in nature

Beluga looks intimidating, and not in vain. She does not disdain any inhabitants of reservoirs. Everyone who approaches the fish at an extremely close distance instantly finds themselves in its huge stomach. Omnivorous sea giants most prefer in their diet:

• sea ​​gobies;
• herring;
• anchovy;
• all representatives of the carp family;
• carp;
• rudd;
• roach.

In nature, there are cases when the beluga eats water rats and mice. During the autopsy of some individuals, even their own cubs, which had recently appeared from eggs, were found in the stomach cavity. The growing young can feed on mollusks and various invertebrates, as well as sprat and roach.

Spawning and reproduction

The peculiarities of the reproduction of the beluga on the Volga are explained by the presence in nature of its two different races (forms): spring and winter. One wave, in winter, goes to spawn in the Volga or the Black Sea coast in September-October. The second, spring, spawns from March to mid-April. The active movement of fish is observed when the water temperature in the river is 7-8 degrees, and the flood reaches its maximum.

For throwing caviar, the beluga chooses places with a depth of more than 4 meters in the rapids of the rivers, prefers a rocky bottom. One female has over 200 thousand eggs, but most often their number is from 5 to 8 million. The diameter of one egg is 3-4 mm.

After the end of spawning, the fish quickly returns to marine environment. The larvae emerging from the eggs do not remain in the Volga for a long time and also follow the adults.

Use in cooking

The meat of a huge sturgeon in Russian cuisine is considered a valuable delicacy. Amazingly tasty, nutritious and healthy dishes are prepared from it. Real masterpieces are obtained with any method of cooking fish:

• frying;
• dried;
• smoking;
• baking;
• steam cooking;
• grilling.

Beluga shish kebab is especially appreciated by gourmets: incredibly tender meat baked with smoke cannot leave indifferent even the most sophisticated connoisseur of fish dishes.

Beluga meat contains a number of beneficial vitamins and amino acids

A large representative of sturgeon is valued not only for its unique taste, but also for a set of health benefits. Firstly, tender meat contains a large amount of easily digestible protein. with low calorie foods. The delicacy saturates the body with essential amino acids (they are not synthesized and can only be obtained with certain foods).

Secondly, in the marine life, as in other seafood, there is fluorine, calcium and other trace elements necessary to maintain healthy bones, hair, nails and skin beauty. Potassium, which is part of the meat, supports the heart muscle, preventing heart attack and stroke. Thanks to vitamin A, the use of valuable sturgeon improves visual acuity, and vitamin D prevents osteoporosis and rickets.

The value of caviar

Special attention deserves caviar, which is obtained from the huge inhabitants of the seas and rivers. Females are capable of throwing the largest possible eggs. As you know, black caviar is an expensive, healthy delicacy that is recommended for both children and adults. Natural bioproduct has a positive effect on all organ systems.

The high price of black caviar is due to the duration of growing adults

Growing beluga in the commercial economy takes about 15 years in order to obtain caviar. IN natural conditions catching valuable specimens is prohibited, so the cost of the finished product is impressive. For 100 grams of black caviar, you have to pay from 10 to 15 thousand rubles, and the price of a kilogram in European markets often exceeds 10 thousand dollars. Most of the goods found on the market appear counterfeit.

Problems of population conservation

Beluga belongs to the species of fish disappearing from the planet. Most individuals do not have time to grow up to maximum dimensions , as they are caught by poachers and lovers of unusual marine trophies. In addition to fishermen, industrial facilities have also contributed to the decline in the population. Due to the active construction of hydroelectric power plants, the dams of which are located on the migration path of fish, create obstacles for their movement to spawn. Due to hydraulic structures and their dams, the flow of beluga to the rivers of Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria is completely blocked.

Beluga numbers are declining every year

Another problem is the constantly deteriorating environment. Since the life expectancy of a beluga is several years and even reaches a century, poisonous, harmful substances falling into environment as a result of human activity. Pesticides, chemicals and hormones negatively affect the reproductive capabilities of the giant fish.

A lot of efforts will have to be made to preserve the unique king fish, otherwise the population will soon completely disappear from the planet. The unique species is not only a valuable delicacy, but also an important part of the food chain in the marine environment.

Sturgeon and Beluga in particular are considered very valuable food fish. However, due to the sharp decline in the number natural populations in the second half of the 20th century, beluga fish is currently listed in the Red Book as rare view. However, it can be grown in artificial conditions, albeit with certain difficulties. Beluga caviar is the most expensive caviar in the world.

• The economic importance of the beluga

Beluga is a migratory fish, that is, it lives in the seas, but rises to the rivers to spawn. This species lives in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas.

The most numerous is the Caspian population of beluga, in this sea it can be found everywhere. The main spawning ground for the Caspian beluga is the Volga. Also, a small number of these fish spawn in the Ural, Kura and Terek rivers. A very insignificant number spawns in small rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea on the territory of Azerbaijan and Iran. But in general, it can be found in any river that is close enough to those places in the Caspian Sea where beluga fish are found.

In the past, spawning beluga entered the rivers far enough - hundreds and even thousands of kilometers. For example, along the Volga, it rose to Tver and even to the upper reaches of the Kama. However, due to the construction of numerous hydroelectric power stations on the rivers flowing into the Caspian, modern Belugas have to limit themselves only to the lower reaches.

Previously, the Azov population of beluga was quite numerous, but by today it is on the verge of extinction. From the Sea of ​​Azov, fish rise to the Don and, in very small quantities, to the Kuban River. As in the case of the Caspian beluga, natural spawning grounds upstream were cut off by the construction of a hydroelectric power station.

Finally, in the Black Sea, where the beluga fish lives, its population is also very small and concentrated mainly in the northwest of the sea, although cases of its appearance off the coast of the southern Crimea, the Caucasus and northern Turkey have been recorded.
spawning local beluga dressed in three major rivers region - the Danube, the Dnieper and the Dniester. Some individuals spawn in the Southern Bug. Before the construction of the hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper, beluga was caught in the Kyiv region and even in Belarus. A similar situation with the Dniester. But along the Danube, it can still rise quite far - up to the Serbian-Romanian border, where one of the two Danube hydroelectric power stations is located.

Until the 70s. of the last century, the beluga was sometimes caught in the Adriatic Sea, where it went to spawn in the Po River. However, in the last few decades, not a single case of catching beluga in this region has been noted, which is why the Adriatic beluga is considered extinct.

Beluga - sturgeon fish; considered the largest of all freshwater fish. In historical chronicles, there are controversial references to the catching of individuals up to 9 meters long and weighing up to 2 tons. However, those sources that do not cause doubts give no less impressive figures.

For example, a book on the state of Russian fishing from 1861 mentions a beluga weighing 90 pounds (one and a half tons), caught near Astrakhan in 1827. The reference book on freshwater fish of the USSR, published in 1948, mentions a female beluga weighing 75 pounds (more than 1200 kg), which was caught in the Caspian Sea near the mouth of the Volga in 1922. Finally, everyone can personally see a stuffed animal of a one-colored beluga exhibited at the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan in the city of Kazan.

The latest case of catching such massive individuals was recorded in 1989, when a beluga weighing 966 kg was caught in the Volga Delta. Her stuffed animal can also be seen in one of the museums, but already in Astrakhan.

According to experts, the largest beluga fish should be tens of years old. It is possible that some individuals could be 100 or more years old. However, these are all exceptional cases. The average weight of fish going to spawn in rivers is 90-120 kg for females and 60-90 kg for males. However, even such sizes the beluga reaches only at the age of 25-30 years. And immature young growth usually weighs no more than 20-30 kg.

If we leave alone the incredible size of this fish, then in general it has a typical sturgeon appearance. She has a massive oblong cylindrical body and a small pointed nose. The beluga has a blunt short snout and a large crescent-shaped mouth. The mouth is bordered by a thick "lip". On the snout there are wide massive antennae.

The head and torso are dotted with symmetrical rows of bone shields (the so-called bugs): 12-13 on the back, 40-45 on the sides and 10-12 on the belly. The dominant color in the color of the beluga is gray, in which the back, sides and upper part of the head are painted. From below, the beluga is painted white.

The first thing that is mentioned in any description of the beluga fish is its way of spawning. The main place of life of this fish is the seas, but it goes to spawn in large rivers, as already mentioned earlier.

It is noteworthy that the beluga has the so-called spring and winter forms (races). In particular, fish enter the Volga in two waves: in the first half of autumn - winter, in the first half of spring - spring. However, winter beluga still dominates in this river, which winters in river pits, and then immediately starts spawning in April-May. In the Ural River, on the contrary, most beluga belong to the spring race, they spawn immediately after entering the river, and then swim back into the sea.

Like any sturgeon, beluga is a predatory fish. The young growth feeds on all kinds of invertebrates and mollusks, extracting them from the bottom in the mouths of the rivers. After going out to the open sea, the grown up young animals quickly switch to feeding on fish. In the Caspian Sea, the basis of the beluga diet is carp, roach, sprat, etc. In addition, the beluga does not disdain eating its own young and other representatives of the sturgeon family. The Black Sea beluga feeds mainly on anchovy and gobies.

The beluga reaches puberty late: males at the 12-14th year, females at the 16-18th. Due to such a long maturation in conditions of intensive industrial fishing, this species was on the verge of extinction.

As already mentioned, beluga spawning falls in the second half of spring, although a significant part of the fish goes to the rivers in the fall. Beluga spawns when the spring flood reaches its peak, and the temperature of the river water is 6-7°C. Caviar rushes about in rapids in deep places (at least 4 meters, more often 10-12 m) with a rocky bottom. One female lays at least 200 thousand eggs, but usually their number goes to millions (up to 8 million). The eggs are quite large, about 4 mm in diameter.

Having finished spawning, the beluga fish in the Volga and other rivers quickly goes to the sea. Young larvae also do not linger in the river.

The economic importance of the beluga

Since ancient times, it has been considered a commercial fish of high value. Active fishing has been carried out since at least the 6th century BC. In the 20th century, with the development of industrial fishing methods, beluga prey reached unprecedented proportions. For example, in the Volga alone in the 70s, 1.2-1.5 thousand tons of this fish were caught annually.

The unjustifiably intensive catch of red beluga fish, as well as the construction of hydroelectric power stations everywhere in the rivers where it spawns, led to a sharp reduction in its numbers in the second half of the last century. Already in the early 90s, the catch fell to 200-300 tons per year, and at the end of the decade - below 100 tons. Under such conditions Russian authorities in 2000, they banned the commercial fishing of beluga on their territory, and a decade later, other countries of the Caspian region joined the Russian Federation. Things are even worse in the Black and Azov Seas, where the beluga population has shrunk to a meager size.

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The actual impossibility to ensure the supply of meat to the consumer market and, no less important, beluga caviar created the conditions for the development of fish farms specializing in this type of fish. Today, they are the only legitimate suppliers of this type of product to store shelves. However, poaching, unfortunately, also occupies a significant share of this market.

At fish farms, beluga is bred not only and not so much in in kind, how many hybridize with other sturgeons - sterlet, stellate sturgeon and sturgeon. Bester is especially widespread - the fish is the result of crossing beluga and sterlet. It is not only grown in pond farms, but even settled in the Sea of ​​Azov and freshwater reservoirs.

Beluga meat and especially its caviar are considered a true delicacy, from which you can cook a real culinary masterpiece. This fish is subjected to all types of heat treatment: boiled, fried, baked, steamed and grilled. Beluga is also smoked, felled and canned. Beluga meat can be used to cook a variety of types of dishes, including barbecue and salads.

With all this, beluga as a fish is very healthy. It has a low calorie content and a high content of easily digestible protein. There are a lot of essential amino acids in beluga, which are urgently needed by our body, but they are not synthesized in it, but can only be obtained with food. The meat of this fish contains a lot of calcium and phosphorus, which help restore and strengthen bones, as well as improve the condition of nails and hair. The potassium present in the beluga improves the functioning of the heart muscle, and the iron has a beneficial effect on the composition of the blood.

Beluga meat is rich in vitamin A, which affects visual acuity and skin condition. There are other important vitamins in it: B (important for muscles and nervous tissue), D (prevents the development of rickets and osteoporosis).

Separately, it is worth mentioning beluga caviar.
mki throw big black caviar, which is incredibly highly valued by gourmets. Since the industrial catch of beluga is now prohibited, and in aquaculture it takes about 15 years to grow fish to get caviar from it, the cost of this product reaches exorbitant prices. In Russia, 100 grams of beluga caviar costs about 10-20 thousand rubles, a kilogram - up to 150 thousand rubles. In Europe and other markets, the cost of a kilogram of this caviar ranges from 7-10 thousand dollars. It is obvious that it is unrealistic to purchase such caviar in a regular store.

Beluga, as well as bester (fish from sturgeon, a hybrid of beluga and sterlet) can eat artificial feed, and therefore is suitable for commercial fish farming. However, this technology is quite expensive, especially considering that it takes at least 15 years to grow fish to obtain caviar.

Until the larvae reach a weight of 3 grams, they are grown in special trays. Food is provided by both artificial and natural feed. After the larvae reach the specified weight, they are sent for rearing in ponds with a stocking density of about 20,000 specimens per hectare.

Further, the technology of breeding beluga fish at home provides for the transfer of underyearlings to feeding on minced fish of low-value breeds with various additives. At the same time, a significant part of the nutrition of the young will be self-sufficient at the expense of pond invertebrates. The predatory instinct in beluga underyearlings appears at the end of summer, which implies an increase in the proportion of minced meat in its diet.

In beluga underyearlings, weight gain occurs most rapidly under conditions when the temperature and composition of water are close to optimal values, so one of critical tasks the fish farmer is to maintain these optimal conditions in the ponds.

In the first year, the average feed conversion of the beluga is 2.8 units. At the end of the first season, the fish increases its weight from 3 to 150 g. With an average survival rate of underyearlings at the level of 50%, their fish productivity reaches 20 c/ha.

In wintering ponds (optimal reservoirs are from a quarter to half a hectare at a depth of 2-3 m, devoid of bottom silt and vegetation), underyearlings are planted in the amount of 120 thousand pieces per hectare. Wintering begins in October - November and lasts until March. In winter, the beluga is given feed in the amount of 2% of total weight fish, and in the formation surface ice stop feeding altogether. For beluga underyearlings, it is natural to lose 30-40% of their weight during this time. However, the size of the beluga fish does not change.

In the first ten days of April, the fish are sent back to the feeding ponds, where intensive feeding is immediately applied. Two-year-olds are given low-value fresh-frozen fish. Young growth grows most actively in the second half of summer, and feed conversion increases during this period to 6 kg of feed per 1 kg of weight gain.

When two-year-olds reach a mass of 0.7 kg (by the end of the second season, about half of them) they are sent for sale to the food network. The rest of the fish is left for another year and grown to a mass of 1.7-2 kg. Under conditions of high survival of two-year-old and three-year-olds (up to 95%), with strict adherence to the cultivation technology, the fish productivity will be 50-75 c/ha.

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Range past and present

Anadromous fish that lives in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas, from where it enters the rivers for spawning. Previously, the beluga was relatively numerous, but over time, its stocks became very scarce.

Widespread in the Caspian Sea. For spawning, it currently enters mainly the Volga, in much smaller quantities - the Urals and Kura. In the past, spawning fish climbed very high along the Volga basin - to Tver and to the upper reaches of the Kama. In the Urals spawned mainly in the lower and middle reaches. Also met along the Iranian coast of the southern Caspian and spawned in the river. Gorgan. At present, it reaches the Volgograd hydroelectric complex along the Volga, where a fish elevator has been built at the Volga Hydroelectric Power Station specifically for migratory fish, which, however, does not work satisfactorily. It rises along the Kura to the Kura cascade of hydroelectric power stations in Azerbaijan.

Beluga caught in the Volga weighing about 1000 kg and 4.17 m long (National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan)

The Azov beluga for breeding enters the Don and very little in the Kuban. Previously, it rose high along the Don, now it only reaches the Tsimlyansk hydroelectric power station.

The main part of the Black Sea beluga population in the past and now lives in the northwestern part of the sea, from where it goes to spawn mainly in the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester, single individuals entered (and, possibly, enter) the Southern Bug. Beluga in the Black Sea was also noted along the Crimean coast, where near Yalta it was recorded at depths of up to 180 m (that is, where the presence of hydrogen sulfide is already observed), and near the Caucasian coast, from where it sometimes spawned in Rioni, and along the Turkish coast , where the spawning beluga entered the Kyzylyrmak and Eshilyrmak rivers. Along the Dnieper, large individuals (up to 300 kg) were sometimes caught in the rapids area (a section of the Dnieper between modern Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye), and extreme entries were noted near Kiev and higher: along the Desna, the beluga reached the village of Vishenki, and along the Sozh - to Gomel, where in 1870s an individual weighing 295 kg (18 pounds) was caught. The main part of the Black Sea sturgeons goes to spawn in the Danube, where in the past the species was quite common and rose to Serbia, and in the distant past it reached the city of Passau in eastern Bavaria. Beluga spawning along the Dniester was noted near the city of Soroka in the north of Moldova and above Mogilev-Podolsky. Along the Southern Bug we climbed to Voznesensk (the north of the Nikolaev region). Currently, the Black Sea population of the species is on the verge of extinction. In any case, along the Dnieper, the beluga cannot rise above the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, and along the Dniester - above the Dubossary hydroelectric power station.

Until the 70s. 20th century beluga also met in the Adriatic Sea, from where it entered the river for spawning. Po, however, over the past 30 years, it has never been met here, and therefore the Adriatic population of the beluga is currently considered extinct.

Dimensions

Beluga is one of the largest freshwater fish, reaches a ton of weight and a length of 4.2 m. As an exception (according to unconfirmed reports), individuals up to 2 tons and 9 m in length were indicated (if this information is correct, then the beluga can be considered the largest freshwater fish the globe).

In "Research on the state of fisheries in Russia" (part 4, 1861), it is reported about a beluga caught in 1827 in the lower reaches of the Volga, which weighed 1.5 tons (90 pounds). On May 11, 1922, a female weighing 1224 kg (75 pounds) was caught in the Caspian Sea near the mouth of the Volga, with 667 kg on the body, 288 kg on the head and 146.5 kg on the roe. Once again, a female of the same size was caught in 1924 in the Caspian Sea near the Biryuchaya Spit, the caviar in it was 246 kg, and the total number of eggs was about 7.7 million. A 75-year-old female weighing more than 1 ton and 4.24 m long, in which there were 190 kg (12 pounds) of caviar. The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan) presents a stuffed beluga 4.17 m long, mined in the lower reaches of the river. Volga at the beginning of the 20th century. Its weight when caught was about 1000 kg, the age of the fish is 60-70 years. In the southern part of the Caspian Sea, large specimens were also caught - for example, a beluga weighing 960 kg (60 pounds) was caught near the Krasnovodskaya Spit (modern Turkmenistan) in 1836.

Later, fish weighing more than a ton were no longer noted, however, in 1970, a case of catching a beluga weighing 800 kg in the Volga delta was described, from which 112 kg of caviar was extracted, and in 1989 a beluga weighing 966 kg and a length of 4 , 20 m (at present, her stuffed animal is kept in the Astrakhan Museum).

Large specimens of beluga were also caught in the middle and even in the upper part of the Volga basin: in 1876 in the river. Vyatka near the city of Vyatka (modern Kirov), a beluga weighing 573 kg was caught, and in 1926, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe modern city of Tolyatti, a beluga weighing 570 kg was caught with 70 kg of caviar. There are also data on the capture of very large individuals on the upper Volga near Kostroma (500 kg, mid-19th century) and in the Oka near the town of Spassk, Ryazan province (380 kg, 1880s).

The beluga reaches very large sizes in other seas. For example, in the Temryuk Bay of the Sea of ​​Azov in 1939, a female beluga weighing 750 kg was caught, there was no caviar in it. In the 1920s 640 kg Azov Belugas were reported.

In the past, the average commercial weight of the beluga was 70-80 kg on the Volga, 60-80 kg on the Sea of ​​Azov, and 50-60 kg in the Danube region of the Black Sea. L. S. Berg in his famous monograph “Fish of fresh waters of the USSR and neighboring countries” indicates that the weight of the beluga “in the Volga-Caspian region is most often 65-150 kg.” The average weight of males caught in the Don Delta was 75-90 kg (1934, data for 1977 individuals), and females - 166 kg (average for 1928-1934).

maturation and reproduction

Beluga is a long-lived fish, reaching the age of 100 years. Unlike Pacific salmon, which die after spawning, beluga, like other sturgeons, can spawn many times in a lifetime. After spawning, they migrate back to the sea.

Caspian beluga males reach puberty at the age of 13-18 years, and females - at 16-27 (mainly at 22-27) years. The fertility of the beluga, depending on the size of the female, ranges from 500 thousand to a million (in exceptional cases - up to 5 million) eggs. There is evidence that large (2.5-2.59 m long) Volga females spawn on average 937 thousand eggs, and Kura females of the same size - an average of 686 thousand eggs. In the past (according to 1952 data), the average fecundity of the walking Volga beluga was 715,000 eggs.

Nutrition

According to the way of feeding, the beluga is a predator, feeding mainly on fish. Begins to prey even as a fry in the river. In the sea it feeds mainly on fish (herring, sprats, gobies, etc.). In the stomachs of the Caspian beluga, even pups (babies) of a seal were found.

Artificial breeding and hybridization of beluga

In nature, the beluga hybridizes with sterlet, stellate sturgeon, spike and sturgeon.

On the Volga and on the Don, with the help of artificial insemination, viable hybrids were obtained - beluga X sterlet. These hybrids are introduced into the Sea of ​​Azov and some reservoirs. Sturgeon hybrids are successfully grown in pond (aquaculture) farms.

www.nrk-fish.ru

They say that this is the king-beluga. And on the Internet, a new MEM has already broken out in the likeness of a sad cat and a stoned fox - a sad fish. Let's find out more about her...

This is the Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore.

The Astrakhan museum has two record-breaking beluga whales - one 4-meter (slightly smaller than the one that Nicholas II presented to the Kazan museum) and the largest - 6-meter. the largest beluga, six meters long. They caught her at the same time as the four-meter one, in 1989. The poachers caught the world's largest beluga, gutted the caviar, and then called the museum and said where you can pick up a "fish" the size of a huge truck.

Stuffed Beluga, Huso huso
Type: stuffed animal
Author: Golovachev V.I.
Dating: The stuffed animal was made in 1990.
Size: length - 4 m 20 cm, weight - 966 kg
Description: Beluga is a valuable commercial fish of the sturgeon family, distributed in the basins of the Caspian, Black, Azov Seas. In 1989 it was caught by fishermen. Weight 966 kg, caviar weight 120 kg, age 70-75 years, length 4 m 20 cm. The stuffed animal was made by taxidermist Golovachev V.I. in 1990
Organization: Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore

Existing for over 200 million years, sturgeons are close to extinction today. The Danube, in the region of Romania and Bulgaria, has one of the most viable wild sturgeon populations in Europe. Danube sturgeons are one of the most important indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Most of them live in the Black Sea and migrate up the Danube to spawn. They reach 6 meters in length and live up to 100 years.

Illegal fishing and barbaric extermination, mainly for caviar, is one of the main dangers threatening sturgeons. Habitat loss and disruption of sturgeon migration routes is another big threat to this unique species. Having founded the Life + program with the participation of the European Community, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with the support of other international organizations, has been working on these problems in recent years.

Type and origin

Sturgeon breeds include: beluga, stellate sturgeon, sturgeon, sterlet. In the fossil state, sturgeon fish are known only from the Eocene (85.8-70.6 million years ago). Representatives of the spade-nosed subfamily are very interesting from the zoogeographical point of view, which are found on the one hand in Central Asia, on the other - in North America, which makes it possible to see the remains of a previously widespread fauna in modern species of this genus. Sturgeons are one of the most unique and attractive species of ancient fish. They have existed for more than 200 million years, and have lived since the time when dinosaurs inhabited our planet. With their unusual appearance, in their robes of bone plates, they remind us of ancient times, when special armor or a strong shell was needed in order to survive. They have survived to this day, almost unchanged.

Alas, today all existing species of sturgeon are in danger or even endangered.

Sturgeons are the largest freshwater fish

Beluga book of records

Beluga is not only the largest of the sturgeons, but also the largest fish caught in fresh waters. There are cases when specimens up to 9 meters long and weighing up to 2000 kg came across. Today, individuals weighing more than 200 kg are rarely seen, transitions to spawning have become too dangerous.
In "Research on the state of fisheries in Russia", in 1861, it was reported about a beluga caught in 1827 in the lower reaches of the Volga, which weighed 1.5 tons.

On May 11, 1922, in the Caspian Sea, near the mouth of the Volga, a female weighing 1224 kilograms was caught, while 667 kilograms fell on her body, 288 kilograms on her head, and 146.5 kilograms on caviar (see photo). Once again, a female of the same size was caught in 1924 in the Caspian Sea near the Biryuchaya Spit, the caviar in it was 246 kilograms, and the total number of eggs was about 7.7 million.

A little to the east, before the mouth of the Urals, on May 3, 1926, a 75-year-old female weighing more than 1 ton and 4.24 meters long was caught, in which there were 190 kilograms of caviar. The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan presents a stuffed beluga 4.17 meters long, mined in the lower reaches of the Volga at the beginning of the 20th century. Its weight when caught was about 1000 kilograms, the age of the fish is 60-70 years.

In October 1891, when the wind stole water from the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of ​​Azov, a peasant passing by the bare shore found a beluga in one of the puddles, pulling 20 pounds (327 kg), of which 3 pounds (49 kg) fell on caviar.

Lifestyle

All sturgeons migrate long distances for spawning and in search of food. Some migrate between salt and fresh water, while others live only in fresh water all their lives. They breed in fresh waters and have a long life cycle as they take years, sometimes decades, to reach maturity when they are first able to produce offspring. While the annual successful spawning is almost unpredictable, and depends on the available range, suitable current and temperature, specific spawning sites, periodicity and migration are predictable. Natural crossing is possible between any species of sturgeon. In addition to the spring move to the rivers for spawning, sturgeon fish sometimes enter the rivers also in autumn - for wintering. These fish tend to stay near the bottom.

According to the method of feeding, the beluga is a predator, feeding mainly on fish, but also on mollusks, worms, and insects. Begins to prey even as a fry in the river. In the sea, it feeds mainly on fish (herring, sprats, gobies, etc.), but does not neglect mollusks. In the stomachs of the Caspian beluga, even pups (babies) of a seal were found.

Beluga takes care of her offspring

Beluga is a long-lived fish reaching the age of 100 years. Unlike Pacific salmon, which die after spawning, beluga, like other sturgeons, can spawn many times in a lifetime. After spawning, they migrate back to the sea. Caspian beluga males reach puberty at the age of 13-18 years, and females - at 16-27 (mainly at 22-27) years. The fertility of the beluga, depending on the size of the female, ranges from 500 thousand to a million (in exceptional cases - up to 5 million) eggs.
In nature, the beluga is an independent species, but it can hybridize with sterlet, stellate sturgeon, spike and sturgeon. With the help of artificial insemination, viable hybrids were obtained - beluga-sterlet (bester). Sturgeon hybrids are successfully grown in pond (aquaculture) farms.

There are many myths and legends associated with the beluga. For example, in ancient times, fishermen talked about the miraculous biluzhin stone, which is able to heal a person from any disease, protect from troubles, save the ship from a storm and attract a good catch.

The fishermen believed that this stone can be found in the kidneys of a large beluga, and it is the size of a chicken egg - flat and oval in shape. The owner of such a stone could exchange it for a very expensive product, but it is still not clear whether such stones really existed, or the craftsmen forged them. Even today, some anglers continue to believe this.
Another legend that at one time surrounded the beluga with an ominous halo is the poison of the beluga. Some considered the liver of young fish or the meat of the beluga to be poisonous, which could go astray, like a cat or a dog, as a result of which its meat became poisonous. Evidence for this has not yet been found.

The now almost extinct beluga. Not a particularly large specimen for this species.

Sturgeon habitats in the past and present

Their distribution is limited to the northern hemisphere, where they inhabit rivers and seas in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Although there are more than 20 different sturgeon species around the world with different biological and ecological requirements, they all have similar characteristics.
Anadromous fish living in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas enters the rivers for spawning. Previously, the beluga was relatively numerous, but over time, its stocks became very scarce.
The Danube and the Black Sea at one time were the most active region for the distribution of a wide variety of beluga - up to 6 different species. Currently, one of the species is completely lost, and the remaining five are endangered.

In the Caspian Sea, the beluga is ubiquitous. For spawning, it enters mainly the Volga, in much smaller quantities - the Urals and the Kura, as well as the Terek. The Amur sturgeon lives in the Far East. Almost all water bodies in Russia are suitable for sturgeon species. In the old days, sturgeons were caught even in the Neva.

Overfishing and the black market for caviar

Overfishing - once legal but now illegal - is one of the direct threats to the survival of the Danube sturgeons. Due to their long life cycle and late maturity, sturgeons are especially vulnerable to overfishing, and their tribe takes many years to recover.
In 2006, Romania was the first country to announce a ban on sturgeon fishing. The ten-year ban will expire at the end of 2015. Following the appeal of the EU, Bulgaria also announced a ban on sturgeon fishing. Despite the ban, poaching seems to be still widespread throughout the Danube region, although concrete evidence of illegal fishing is difficult to obtain. It is well known that the black market for caviar is thriving. One reason for overfishing is the high price of caviar. Illegally harvested caviar in Bulgaria and Romania can also be bought in other EU countries. Thanks to the first study of the caviar black market, conducted in Bulgaria and Romania in 2011-2012, experts from the World Wide Fund for Nature were able to trace the distribution of smuggled goods in Europe.

Danube beluga, the same age as dinosaurs

Iron Gate Dam disrupted migration routes

Migration for spawning is one of the most important parts of the natural life cycle of all sturgeons in the Danube. In the past, the beluga rose up the river to Serbia, and in the distant past it even reached Passau in eastern Bavaria, but now its path is artificially blocked already on the middle Danube.

Located below the Iron Gates, in the narrow Jardap Gorge, between Romania and Serbia, the Iron Gates hydroelectric power plant and reservoir are the largest along the Danube. The hydroelectric power plant was built at 942 and 863 kilometers of the river upstream of the Danube Delta. As a result, by limiting the sturgeon migration path at 863 kilometers, and completely cutting off the most important spawning area on the middle Danube. As a result, the sturgeons found themselves locked in the section of the river in front of the dam, and now they are no longer able to continue their natural path, familiar to them for thousands of years, to the spawning site. Trapped in such unnatural conditions, the sturgeon population suffers the negative effects of inbreeding and loses genetic variability.

Beluga range on the Danube lost

Sturgeons are very sensitive to changes in their range. These changes immediately affect spawning, wintering, the possibility of finding good food and, ultimately, lead to the extinction of the genus. Most sturgeon species spawn on the clear pebbly edge of the lower Danube, where they lay their eggs before returning to the Black Sea. Successful spawning must be carried out at great depths at a temperature of at least 9-15 degrees.
The sturgeon population has suffered greatly as a result of the loss of the original and corresponding to this species habitat on the Danube. The strengthening of the banks and the division of the river into channels, the construction of powerful engineering structures that protect against floods, reduced by 80% the natural floodplains and wetlands that were part of the river system. Navigation is also one of the major threats to the sturgeon range, mainly as a result of activities that include dredging and dredging on the river. Extraction of sand and gravel, soil changes produced by the underwater part of the vessel also have a detrimental effect on the sturgeon population in the Danube.

The threat of extinction of the Danube sturgeon is so great that if urgent and radical measures are not taken, then in a few decades this majestic silvery fish can only be seen in museums. That is why the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature and the European Commission, within the framework of the European Community Strategy for the Danube Region, are conducting a number of projects and international studies in order to develop measures to save the Danube beluga.

Source

kykyryzo.ru

The appearance of the beluga

The name beluga fish is translated from Latin as "pig", which fits the description very accurately. With its thick round body of ash-gray color, grayish-white belly, short pointed, slightly translucent yellowish nose, huge full-length mouth, which is also surrounded by a thick lip, wide antennae growing to the mouth - it really remotely resembles a pig. The whole body and head of the fish are surrounded by slightly underdeveloped scutes and bugs.

Dimensions and weight of beluga fish

Beluga is a very large fish, its weight reaches a ton, and its length exceeds four meters. Moreover, larger individuals were also encountered earlier (according to unverified data, there were fish up to two tons in weight and up to nine meters long). Although in our time such huge individuals have not been seen. especially big fish were caught in 1970 (800 kilograms) and in 1989 (966 kilograms).

Where and how does the beluga hibernate

Depending on spawning, winter and spring beluga are distinguished, since fish do not spawn every year, the winter beluga spends the winter by going to a fresh source. Different species predominate in different rivers. So, the beluga enters the Volga in early autumn and early spring, but the winter form of fish wintering in the river prevails, and in the Urals, on the contrary, the vast majority of the spring beluga, which spawns in the year of arrival in the river. An interesting fact is that juvenile winter beluga, which has just reached the breeding age, winters in rivers less often than adult fish, which, having overwintered further from the sea, in spring, together with the flood, goes deeper into the riverbed and spawns higher in the floodplain, since it is easier to find suitable place for spawning.

Beluga caviar and juveniles

Young winter individuals usually spend the winter in the mouth, or close to the sea. This is probably due to the need to search for certain conditions for spawning. Most of all, for throwing caviar, the beluga loves stone ridges in fast and deep places. In the absence of stones, it uses reeds, bottom irregularities and roots that help it spawn, but if it doesn’t find it, it completely refuses to spawn, and the caviar remaining inside is absorbed by the fish from the inside, so the beluga often comes to rivers long before spawning time. The caviar is quite large: it reaches four and a half millimeters in diameter and up to thirty milligrams in weight.

Beluga spawning age and time

Beluga is truly a long-liver among fish. The age of the fish before could reach a hundred years. Currently, the average life expectancy is about 40 years. It can spawn many times. Sexual maturity of the fish is reached quite late: in males by the age of fourteen, in females by eighteen. Beluga does not spawn every year. Spawning time - mainly April, May, takes place at the peak of the flood, lays eggs deep, to a depth of 15 meters, in places with a fast current, on stones or pebbles. Females are quite prolific, depending on the size they can produce up to eight million eggs. After spawning, it does not stay in fresh water. Very quickly goes back to the sea.