WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is a conservation organisation that operates in Czechia as WWF Česko.
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WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is a conservation organisation that operates in Czechia as WWF Česko. Its spokesperson is Lukáš Hrábek.[1] The sterlet is a fish native to the large European rivers; according to Hrábek, its numbers are too low for the species to reproduce naturally and settle the waterways. [1]
On 29 September 2026, WWF representatives released about 2,100 sterlets into the Thaya and Morava (river) rivers in the Břeclav area, at four locations. The fish were reared at Rybníkářství Pohořelice and carry a chip that allows their movements to be tracked.[1] The released fish are descendants of wild Danube sterlets. [1] In the spring of the same year, WWF Česko released young sterlets into the Morava in the Litovelské Pomoraví protected landscape area near Olomouc. These fish hatched in incubation boxes placed directly in the river and were released as fry.[1]
According to the organisation, this is part of a wider effort to bring native fish species back to Czech rivers and to restore the conditions they need to live.[1]
According to Hrábek, the sterlet is the only sturgeon species that does not migrate from the rivers all the way to the sea, which is why it can be artificially stocked in Czechia. It can migrate hundreds of kilometres, but in the Danube it is stopped by the Iron Gate dam on the border between Serbia and Romania. [1]
Sturgeon expert Bořek Drozd said that the monitoring is meant to show how the fish are doing in the river, where they move and what living conditions they have. [1]
The sterlet can grow to over one metre and weigh about 15 kilograms; it feeds on aquatic insect larvae, worms and crustaceans. [1]
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 29 September 2026