NATURAL SCIENCES

Journal of fundamental
and
applied researches

Interspawning intervals for domesticated females of beluga and Russian sturgeon kept in cages of LLC Astrakhan aquaculture company ’Beluga’ commercial farm in the Astrakhan region

2013. ¹1, pp. 81-86

Tyapugin Vasiliy V. - Chief Pisciculturist, LLC ÀÀÑ "Beluga", 29 Uritskiy St., Astrakhan, 414000, Russian Federation, bios94@mail.ru

Yusupova Adelya Z. - post-graduate student, Astrakhan State University, 1 Shaumyan Sq., Astrakhan, 414000, Russian Federation, bios94@mail.ru

Vasileva Lidiya M. - D.Sc. (Agriculturae), Director, Research and Education Center “Sturgeon”, 14a Volodarskiy St., Astrakhan, 414000, Russian Federation, bios94@mail.ru

The article discusses the interspawning intervals of beluga and Russian sturgeon female fish, bred in cages belonging to the LLC Astrakhan Aquaculture Company ’Beluga.’ It adds that the stocks have been increased through domestication at a commercial farm. The paper notes that the determining factor for the effective use of productive herds of sturgeon is to reduce the interspawning intervals of females, taking into consideration the fact that it takes them from 5–7 years to mature under natural conditions. The interspawning analysis covered the terms of sturgeon re-maturation; the mass of fish prior to spawning and during the fattening stage in the cages; the plastic and generative growth of the females; and their working fertility rate, percentage of fertilized oocytes and embryonic stage of egg development. According to the critique, the research results showed a reduction in the terms of re-maturation for beluga females by three years, while those for Russian sturgeon were diminished by up to 2 years, which is more than a two-fold reduction compared to natural conditions. Moreover, the re-matured sturgeon females showed a better reproductive quality than the first spawning females. Hence, the document concludes that keeping the production of sturgeon in cages has had a positive impact on key fish-breeding characteristics for these fish. Furthermore, the results could be used by sturgeon-breeding fish farms to raise the domestic production stocks.

Key words: domestication,females,beluga,Russian sturgeon,interspawning intervals,production stocks,working fertility,plastic and generative growth,re-maturation