Sturgeon recovery in the black sea: A review of the historical distribution, threats, and conservation strategies
Regional Studies in Marine Science, cilt.102, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Derleme
- Cilt numarası: 102
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.rsma.2026.105365
- Dergi Adı: Regional Studies in Marine Science
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, Zoological Record
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Acipenseridae, Black Sea basin, Conservation aquaculture, Habitat connectivity, Supportive breeding, Transboundary management
- Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The Black Sea basin has historically served as a global center for sturgeon diversity. Yet, sturgeons now face critical threats due to sustained anthropogenic pressures and their complex life-history traits. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the biology, historical distribution, conservation status, and recovery strategies of sturgeon species across the six Black Sea riparian countries. Historical population declines were primarily driven by overfishing, river regulation, habitat degradation, and the disruption of migratory pathways. While exploitation triggered the initial collapse of populations, contemporary recovery is now mainly constrained by persistent habitat fragmentation and the loss of river-sea connectivity. Production trends demonstrate a major shift from capture fisheries to aquaculture, with aquaculture surpassing wild fisheries production since the late 1990s. Habitat protection, conservation aquaculture, and supportive breeding programmes each contribute to sturgeon conservation by protecting critical habitats, preserving genetic resources, and reinforcing depleted populations. However, their long-term effectiveness remains limited because they address different components of the recovery process and cannot restore self-sustaining populations in the absence of functional migration corridors and suitable spawning habitats. Recent genetic studies further reveal distinct regional population structuring within the Black Sea basin, highlighting the importance of genetically informed management and the protection of local lineages during supportive interventions. Overall, this review demonstrates that long-term recovery will depend on integrated basin-scale conservation that combines habitat restoration, restoration of river–sea connectivity, genetically informed supportive breeding, conservation aquaculture, and coordinated transboundary governance.