The Atlantic sturgeon was extirpated from Europe in the early years of 1900. Re introduction started in the German-Polish border river of Odra in the early 2000 and the German case has been a vital inspiration for the rest of the Baltic countries. In Sweden, Atlantic sturgeon was present in a number of large rivers including the Göta river on the west coast. Göta is the only river with confirmed spawning, a fact based upon preserved specimens at the Gothenburg Museum for Natural History (Picture 2). The Swedish re introduction started late but has since then worked hard to catch up. The first juveniles was brought in spring 2024 and released via a specially designed soft release cage (Picture 1). A facility for rearing was built and the second batch was released spring 2025.
Two hundred sturgeons have been equipped with acoustic telemetry (Picture 3), serving as a vital part of the monitoring of the re introduction program. By triangulating the habitat usage of the sturgeon in the river, the foraging pattern can be detected (Figure 1). Since this is closely connected to occurrence of bentic fauna, this can be used to plan for future restoration of the heavily modified river. (Figure 2) The preliminary results show a high level of survival and an extensive migration pattern. Samples of other river fishes show a gap in the food web suitable for sturgeon juveniles. A system for by-catch reporting has been established.Future plans is to study this into more detail using a combination of telemetry, by-catchreports, benthic samples and  a close collaboration with other organizations.

 

ecology,Migration,river restoration,acoustic telemetry