From March 31st to April 1st, sturgeon experts from all over Europe and North America came together in Tulcea (Romania) to present and discuss various issues in sturgeon conservation and learn from each others experiences.
The first two days were mainly dedicated to the presentation and discussion of best practices in the fields of habitat detection and restoration as well as artificial reproduction with presentations ranging from genetic issues to the physical conditions of the reproduction facilities. The presentations can be downloaded here.
Additionally, two excursions were organized: One to the sturgeon aquarium in the Delta Museum and another half day excursion to a sturgeon hatchery in Horia.
The final output of the conference was the development of a conference resolution, underligning the importance of the Sturgeon Action Plan to be implemented, especially river connectivity and habitat restoration, improvement of stock rehabilitation procedures, and public awareness activities. The conference resolution will be developed in more detail by the experts within the next weeks and be available together with the conference proceedings.
On April 1st and 2nd, an internal DANUBEPARKS workshop for the development of a Life+ project in sturgeon conservation took place. Also in this project, the main focus will be on habitat protection and restoration, genetics and hatchery operations.
The successful implementation of this thematic conference was the start of a row of public events this year, which will emphasize and disseminate the main outcomes of the ETC-SEE project: A river restoration conference end of May as well as a White-tailed Eagle and a Tourism Conference in autumn this year will follow.
