- Title: BULGARIA: Fishing ban gives Danube sturgeon a chance
- Date: 1st September 2011
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) FISHERMAN VALENTIN STOIKOV, SAYING: "Fish numbers have gone down drastically during the war in Yugoslavia, after that there was a very high water level in the Danube, which flooded mines in Romania, where toxic materials poisoned the river and the fish dwindled even further." VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN BOATS ON DANUBE (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) FISHERMAN
- Embargoed: 16th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Bulgaria, Bulgaria
- Country: Bulgaria
- Topics: Business,Environment / Natural World
- Reuters ID: LVA3DNNZ7EC5TTPB4IDD8K4UXHJQ
- Story Text: Environmental groups have welcomed the move by Bulgaria to introduce a one-year ban on sturgeon fishing in the Danube, but the battle to save the endangered fish species from extinction is far from over.
On the Kozloduy banks of the Danube, inspectors from the Bulgarian Fishing and Aquaculture Agency are removing one of the locality's crueller fishing methods. Known locally as the 'Karnak,' the rope, with low-hanging steel hooks is laid on the riverbed to bait migrating sturgeon as they rest on the sludge from their upstream swim.
The Danube is one of the most important channels for sturgeon on their way from the Black Sea, it is also one of the most important sources of income for Bulgaria's local fishermen.
With a blackmarket price of up to 10,000 euros there is so far little incentive to stick to the ban.
"If needs be, I could easily find a good place here and set up this karnak within half an hour," says fisherman Pavel Slavov as he watches the inspectors dredging one of the Karnak's up from the riverbed.
The sturgeon species is over 200 million years old but the destruction of its spawning grounds and overfishing have put the ancient creature high on the endangered list.
With sturgeon caviar valued as one of the world's most expensive wildlife products, some fishermen have resorted to poaching to profit from the 4 figure prices per kilo.
"The black market price of one standard sturgeon fish is about 10,000 euros. That is why it is so difficult to fight the poachers," Mihail Mihailov, head of Danube Department at National Agency of Fisheries and Aquaculture told Reuters TV.
Romania has already introduced a ban on sturgeon fishing, due to expire in 2016. Experts trying to save the fish say the ban must be widespread across the region's borders to have a positive impact.
"All Danube countries should make the restocking of sturgeon and other fish a priority and poaching controls should be equally good in all countries," said Ivailo Toshev, fisheries inspector.
For the operation against sturgeon poaching to be a success, the fisheries Agency is looking into ways to garner the support of local communities, with one suggestion being to shift the balance to tourism as a way of using fishing to create revenue.
"Our perspective about fishing on the Danube is a general decrease in fishing activities, the creation of local fishermen groups and the transformation from industrial to tourist fishing," Mihailov said.
Fishermen who remember the days of a healthier Danube say fishing is only one contributor to the sturgeon's decline, blaming pollution for the fish's dwindling numbers.
"Fish numbers went down drastically during the war in Yugoslavia, after that there was a very high water level in the Danube, which flooded mines in Romania, where toxic materials poisoned the river and the fish dwindled even further," fisherman Valentin Stoikov said.
"All Danube countries should have restocking programmes, under some agreement, otherwise nothing will return the sturgeon back to the numbers of the 1950-s-1960-s, even the ban on fishing won't help," fisherman Pavel Slavov said.
A longer term solution to protecting the ancient armored fish may be the production of caviar in fish farms although so far there is only one licensed producer of sturgeon fish and caviar in Bulgaria. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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