UK Sturgeon Bycatch Database
A central record of sturgeon bycatch incidents in UK waters
This database brings together all known records of sturgeon bycatch in UK coastal and marine waters to support sturgeon conservation.
Why Sturgeon?
The UK is part of the natural range of two native sturgeon species: European sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon.
Both species are showing encouraging signs of recovery across Europe, with active reintroduction programmes underway in countries including France, Germany, and the Baltic region.
Records from UK marine and coastal environments over the past 30 years confirm that UK waters provide important habitats for recovering sturgeon populations.
Bycatch records help us understand:
- Where sturgeon are appearing,
- Where to focus fisher engagement efforts to ensure the safe return of sturgeon to the sea, and
- How UK waters connect to wider European conservation efforts for this migratory fish.
(Image) European sturgeon caught by Anonymous French fisherman near the mouth of the Gironde. Fish immediately released after capture
What this database does
The database was developed to:
- Store sturgeon bycatch records securely in one central location,
- Standardise the information collected, improving data quality, and
- Support sharing of data between countries, especially those that share waters and sturgeon populations.
How bycatch records are submitted
There are two ways records enter the database:
- Direct submissions from fishers
- Second-hand submissions via organisations that collect bycatch data
Both routes are essential for building a complete picture of sturgeon occurrence in UK waters.
Access to the data
Access may be granted to organisations that:
- Record sturgeon bycatch in UK waters, and/or
- Require regular access to UK sturgeon bycatch data for their own monitoring purposes.
All access is managed to ensure protection of personal and sensitive location information.
If your organisation meets these criteria and would benefit from access, please contact marineandfreshwater@zsl.org (ZSL). If you have been granted access, you can login here.
Are you in the right place?
This database is specifically for recording sturgeon bycatch incidents. If you have seen a sturgeon in the wild, swimming in your local river for example, we would like to hear about this too – please visit https://www.savethesturgeon.com/ to submit this sighting.
For more information
To learn more about the historical distribution of sturgeon across the UK and how we are using this information to inform sturgeon conservation, please visit https://uksturgeonsightings.org/?page=Home
This project was funded by the Natural England Species Recovery Programme
