Artificial reproduction of stellate sturgeon in the Volga-Caspian fishery basin: history, current status, and prospects for restoration

The article describes the history of artificial reproduction of stellate sturgeon from the early 20th century to the present day. Based on the results of research at sturgeon hatcheries, a characteristic of the current state of repro-duction of the species in the Volga-Caspian fishery basin is given, taking into account some changes in the technological cycle. An analysis of long-term observations of the volume of replenishment of natural populations of stellate sturgeon in the Volga-Caspian and Terek-Caspian fishery subdistricts of the Southern fishery region is carried out. Detailed materials are presented on the amount of juveniles annually released into natural water bodies, the accounting of which was carried out using the appraisal method as part of scientific research. It is shown that the maximum volumes of hatchery reproduction of juvenile stellate sturgeon in the 20th century were recorded in 1984-1985 and amounted to about 25 million specimens. In the 21st century. A similar number of released juveniles was recorded in 2001 – 23.6 million specimens, after which there was a decline in reproduction volumes down to 2.2 thousand specimens in 2024 and zero releases in 2011 and 2017. One of the main reasons for the declining efficiency of both natural and artificial reproduction of stellate sturgeon is identified – a sharp decline in the number of spawning producers. The structure and quantity of broodstock and replacement stocks of stellate sturgeon, formed to solve the problem of providing sturgeon hatcheries with producers, are studied. Materials are presented on the assessment of the biological and reproductive indicators of producers and the fish-farming-biological indicators of juveniles of this species. A conclusion is made that the current scale of artificial reproduction of stellate sturgeon is inconsistent with the objectives of population conservation. Proposals are made to increase the efficiency of reproduction work, including the use of cryopreserved stellate sturgeon reproductive products.