Species

Atlantic sturgeon – protected species, fishing prohibited

Atlantic sturgeon (European sea sturgeon) · Acipenser sturio

Atlantic sturgeon (European sea sturgeon)

Size: 80-100 cm

  • The European sea sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) is a bottom-dwelling, anadromous marine fish of the sturgeon family (Acipenseridae), threatened with extinction, which used to be found along Europe's Atlantic coast up to Norway, the Baltic Sea,...
  • Today this species lives only in the Garonne river (France).
  • In Romania it hasn't been caught for 60 years and is considered extinct; in the past it occurred along the whole coast and off the mouths of the Danube, while in the Danube it was recorded only in the Delta.
  • Usual length 80-100 cm, maximum 6 m.

Photo: Alexander Francis Lydon, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Rules on natural waters

Release it immediately

Fishing for sturgeons is forbidden all year. Fish caught by accident must be released alive.

Species closed season: all year (except for scientific purposes)

The rules above are for natural waters (rivers, lakes, the Danube), where you also need a permit. On a private lake the lake's rules apply: many are catch & release or have their own limits.