There are trout and salmon and even eels making their way up the River: Trout on the Sid – The Sid
A correspondent asks whether we could ever see sturgeon on the Sid…
And elsewhere in Devon there is also interest – with a request for more information:
The Severn estuary was a stronghold in the past
Their last stronghold in the Europe is the Gironde in France where they believe there are only 500 wild fish left. Conservation is being considered, but with males and females spawning in alternative years, the likelihood of wild fish breeding is very low.
A task force in Europe is looking at where the fish used to be with a view to reintroducing them. In the UK, where we have the longest coastline in Europe, they used to be plentiful but netting wiped them out as they used to be a staple food centuries ago. So any information would give an insight into where they lived in the past and a indication of potential sites for introduction the future.
The Blue Maritime Foundation is also interested:
The IUCN considers sturgeon to be the most critically endangered group of species on the planet. However, they were once a common sight in the UK’s river and coastal ecosystems, remaining mostly unchanged for the past 200 million years. Two species are present the UK, the more widespread European sturgeon and its close cousin the Atlantic sturgeon. However, weirs and dams, pollution, exploitation and persecution have almost led to the extinction of the ‘Dinosaur Fish’.
To reverse the decline of the UK’s native sturgeon species, Blue Marine is focusing on habitat restoration (starting in the greater Severn estuary system) and has ambitions to reform current legislation for increased protection. Blue Marine hopes to raise awareness of and increase pride in this great British fish, while exploring ways under the IUCN Reintroduction Protocol to begin actively restoring sturgeon numbers in the future.
UK Sturgeon – Blue Marine FoundationBlue Marine Foundation
They are still there on the Severn – just:
