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FAO ISSN 2070-7010 FISHERIES AND 558 AQUACULTURE TECHNICAL PAPER 558 STURGEON HATCHERY MANUAL This Sturgeon Hatchery Manual includes the latest available scientific research findings and experiences and compiles advice given in earlier manuals and handbooks on sturgeon culture and reproduction practices. This document was prepared in response HATC STURGEON to numerous requests for practical guidance on this subject from the Central Asian and Caucasus region to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This manual is targeted particularly at sturgeon farmers, sturgeon hatchery operators, hatchery technicians, and fisheries and aquaculture managers involved in sturgeon aquaculture development and the restocking and rehabilitation of sturgeon populations in the countries around the basins of the Black and Caspian seas. It aims to provide a practical handbook of modern sturgeon hatchery practices and management. The H manual is available in the English, Russian and Turkish languages. MANUAL ERY FAO FAO Sturgeon Hatchery FISHERIES AND Manual AQUACULTURE TECHNICAL PAPER 558 Prepared by Mikhail S. Chebanov FAO Consultant Krasnodar, Russia and Elena V. Galich Krasnodar, Russia FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Ankara, 2013 Reprinted 2013 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of FAO. ISBN 978-92-5-106823-6 All rights reserved. FAO encourages reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Non-commercial uses will be authorized free of charge. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes, including educational purposes, may incur fees. Applications for permission to reproduce or disseminate FAO copyright materials and all other queries on rights and licences, should be addressed by e-mail to [email protected] or to the Chief, Publishing Policy and Support Branch, Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy. © FAO 2011 iii Preparation OF THIS DOCUMENT This document, the Sturgeon Hatchery Manual, was prepared in response to requests from the Central Asian and Caucasus region to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Fish farmers, hatchery operators, hatchery technicians and fisheries and aquaculture managers in the countries around the Caspian Basin expressed their need for a practical instruction manual containing the latest practices and knowledge on sturgeon hatcheries. This manual includes the latest available scientific research findings and experiences and compiles advice given in earlier manuals and handbooks on this subject. This document can be considered an update of the Sturgeon Breeding and Rearing Handbook (Chebanov, Galich and Chmyr, 2004), which was published only in the Russian language. It covers important aspects of sturgeon reproduction and growth for both sturgeon aquaculture and sturgeon restocking activities (with main emphasis on sturgeon culture as practiced in the region). The preparation of this document was financed by the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) project “Recovery of Sturgeon Population in Turkey: Habitat Assessment and Restocking” (TCP/TUR/3202). This project was a collaborative effort of FAO with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Turkey (MARA), the State Hydraulic Works of Turkey (DSI) and the Central Fisheries Research Institute (SUMAE). In the preparation process of this manual, input was received from experts attending the various workshops organized within the framework of the FAO Technical Cooperation Project TCP/INT/3101 “Capacity Building for the Recovery and Management of the Sturgeon Fisheries of the Caspian Sea”. These workshops included the FAO/World Bank/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/ Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Regional Training Workshop on Sturgeon Hatchery Practices and Management” held in Atyrau, Kazakhstan from 14–19 April 2009, and the “Workshop on Technical Guidelines on Sturgeon Hatchery Practices and Management” held in Wuhan, China on 25 October 2009. The latter workshop was organized under a partnership of FAO with the World Sturgeon Conservation Society (WSCS), the 6th International Symposium on Sturgeon, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sturgeon Specialist Group, the UNDP/Global Environment Facility (GEF) CaspEco project of thвыe Caspian Environment Programme and the Institute for Hydro-Ecology of China. Additional information was collected for this manual from the WSCS meetings and the FAO/ European Inland Fishery Advisory Commission (EIFAC) ad hoc Working Party “Management of Sturgeon” meetings over the period 2004–2009. The preparation of this document was led by Mikhail S. Chebanov and Elena V. Galich of the South Branch Federal Center of Selection and Genetics for Aquaculture, Krasnodar, Russian Federation. Raymon van Anrooy of the FAO Sub-regional Office for Central Asia (SEC) coordinated the preparation of this document. Aquaculture (FIRA) and Marine and Inland Fisheries Services (FIRF) of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Use and Conservation Division (FIR) of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (FI) provided technical support and advice. v ABSTRACT This Sturgeon Hatchery Manual includes the latest available scientific research findings and experiences and compiles advice given in earlier manuals and handbooks on sturgeon culture and reproduction practices. This document can be considered an update of the Sturgeon Breeding and Rearing Handbook (Chebanov, Galich and Chmyr, 2004), which was published in the Russian language. The Sturgeon Hatchery Manual was prepared in response to numerous requests for practical guidance on this subject from the Central Asian and Caucasus region to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This manual is targeted particularly at sturgeon farmers, sturgeon hatchery operators, hatchery technicians, and fisheries and aquaculture managers involved in sturgeon aquaculture development and the restocking and rehabilitation of sturgeon populations in the countries around the basins of the Black and Caspian seas. It aims to provide a practical handbook of modern sturgeon hatchery practices and management. The manual is available in the English, Russian and Turkish languages. The manual starts with a chapter on the taxonomy, biology, distribution and life histories of Azov-Black and Caspian Sea sturgeons. Subsequent chapters discuss the following aspects of sturgeon hatchery practices: hatchery design, collection and transportation of wild broodstock, broodstock management, spawning and gamete processing, fry and fingerling rearing, production of live feeds, the technology of artificial reproduction, ecological- morphological and ethological-physiological express estimation of larval and fingerling (fry) viability, release of fingerlings into natural waterbodies, the formation of domesticated broodstock, basic sanitation and fish health measures, tagging, and early sexing and maturity determination in live sturgeons using ultrasound techniques. The manual also contains an extensive list of references, a list of Acipenseriformes and numerous figures, photographs and tables to support the guidance given on the various hatchery practices. Key words: broodstock, gene pool, hatchery, reproduction, sturgeon, ultrasound Chebanov, M.S.; Galich, E.V. Sturgeon hatchery manual. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper. No. 558. Ankara, FAO. 2011, 303 p. vii CONTENTS Preparation of this document...............................................................................iii Abstract ...................................................................................................................v Abbreviations and acronyms ..........................................................................xxvii Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................xxix Introduction .......................................................................................................xxxi Chapter 1 - Azov-Black and Caspian seas sturgeon taxonomy, biology, distribution and life history...................................................................................1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 1.2 BIOLOGY, DISTRIBUTION AND LIFE historY .......................................2 1.2.1 Beluga (giant sturgeon) – Huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758) ....................2 1.2.2 Russian sturgeon – Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833 .................................................................................4 1.2.3 Persian sturgeon – Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897 .......................8 1.2.4 Stellate sturgeon – Acipenser
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