UK Sturgeon Alliance’ activities gain momentum
With the launch of their website the UK Sturgeon Alliance has continued its yearlong struggle to convince Britains administration that sturgeon were a significant element of the Islands natural heritage. The website provides an comprehensive historic overview outlining the findings that the Alliance has uncovered in the last years: “Sturgeon’s armour-like scales, scutes, have been found in ancient middens (rubbish dumps) throughout the UK showing that these fish were a significant part of our diet. Eaten by all, sturgeon were highly prized for their protein rich meat. Although exploitation was an issue, greater declines in sturgeon numbers came with the widespread construction of weirs and dams for river navigation and milling. Sturgeon are anadromous, migrating from the sea into rivers to spawn on clean gravel beds. Barriers meant that they were unable to reach their spawning grounds. As mature individuals were either removed from the rivers or blocked from reaching their spawning habitats, the decline of native sturgeon was inevitable. The last officially recorded river capture was in 1993 in the River Tywi (Afon Tywi) in Wales. However, individuals have begun to return to our coasts in recent years because of reintroduction projects in France and Germany.” In order to support local activities, catch reports are collected and information on current an future protection and remediation needs are provided. For an insight check: https://www.savethesturgeon.com/
