Open AccessIS IT POSSIBLE TO SAVE THE AZOV BELUGA?
Author(s) -
Sergey Podushka
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
rybnoe hozâjstvo
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0131-6184
DOI - 10.37663/0131-6184-2020-3-71-75
Subject(s) - beluga , beluga whale , huso , subspecies , fishery , threatened species , geography , biology , ecology , sturgeon , arctic , fish <actinopterygii> , habitat
The Azov beluga Huso huso maeoticus has the status of a subspecies. This is one
of the most threatened and problematic species of the Russian ichthyofauna.
Despite the measures taken to protect this subspecies, the situation has only
worsened over the past half-century. Some authors already consider the Azov
Beluga to be extinct.
Brood stock of the beluga raised at the Don Sturgeon Plant, where the first
females began to mature in 2018, lets us hope for the possibility of saving
the Azov subspecies. Presumably the herd consists of both Azov and Caspian
belugas, as well as hybrids between them. The issue of their identification is
being discussed. A plan to preserve a clean line of the Azov Beluga is proposed.