After more than 100 years of absence, the Atlantic sturgeon will now make a comeback in Swedish waters. In a unique project in Göta Älv, 100 specimens will be set out and followed by researchers. All in the hope of repairing a hole in the ecosystem and for the historic giant fish to re-establish itself.
– This is Sweden’s coolest nature conservation project, says Linnéa Jägrud, project manager at Sportfiskarna.
In pools in Gothenburg, 100 small sturgeons are now rigged for the unique return. Each is fitted with an ID tag and a transmitter, so researchers can track their movements. The Atlantic sturgeon can live 140 years, grow five meters long and weigh 600 kilograms.
– It was here, we removed it. Now we’re taking it back, says Linnéa Järud.
There is several preserved evidence that the species, which is considered regionally extinct, once existed in the Göta River.
Basement finds were decisive
But it was a basement find in the city’s Museum of Natural History that was decisive for the implementation of the project. Juvenile specimens from the end of the 19th century were saved in glass jars, which confirmed that the sturgeon belonged in the river.
– They can never have come anywhere else than Göta river. They were born in the Göta River and that is evidence of reproduction, says biologist and initiator Dan Calderon.
– It was a break-through.
“We have to start somewhere”
The project, which until now has been sponsor-financed, is led by Sportfiskarna, but involves, among others, the University of Gothenburg, the Swedish University of Agriculture and the Gothenburg Museum of Natural History. The small bugs have been taken from a similar project in Germany and will be deployed between Kungälv and Lilla Edet in mid-June.
The goal is then to fill up with more individuals in the coming year. And to solve a long-term financing. Because it will take time to replace what is seen as a missing puzzle piece in the ecosystem.
– We have to start somewhere. Yes, they will be eaten. Yes, we don’t have all the facts on the table. But we are doing something active to get it back, says Linnéa Järud.