Programme
The three day programme can be viewed below. Click on the titles to show additional information.
| 8:45 - 9:45 | Opening of the conference and welcome addresses |
| Corneliu VISOIANU - Moderator | |
| Welcome addresses: | |
| Iulian-Gabriel BIRSAN, Rector of "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati | |
| Sabin CUTAS, Senior adviser of Romanian Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region | |
| Dumitru MURARIU, Director of the Biological Institute of the Romanian Academy; | |
| Peter GAMMELTOFT, President of Danube Sturgeon Task Force | |
| Adriana PETCU, State Secretary of Ministry of Water and Forests | |
| Doina CIOACA, Ministry of Environment | |
| Nicolae DIMULESCU, President of National Agency for Fishing and Agriculture | |
| Paolo BRONZI, President of World Sturgeon Conservation Society | |
| Irene LUCIUS, Regional Conservation Director of World Wide Fund for Nature | |
| Costel FOTEA, President of Galați County Council | |
| 9:45 - 10:45 | Session 1 – Setting the scene |
| Chair: Cezar-Ionuț BICHESCU, Vice-Rector of ”Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati (3 presentations of 15 minutes each, followed by 15 minutes Questions / Answers (Q/A) at very end |
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| Sturgeon conservation at European Level Jörn GESSNER, World Sturgeon Conservation Society |
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| Pan European Action Plan – our framework for action Iva OBRETENOVA, Bern Convention / Beate STRIEBEL (video conference), World Wide Fund for Nature |
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| Conservation of Danube Sturgeons – a challenge or a burden? Gheorghe CONSTANTIN, Romanian Ministry of Water and Forests |
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| 10:45 - 11:15 | Coffee Break |
| 11:15-12:45 | Session 2 - Status of wild sturgeon populations in Danube and Black Sea and monitoring |
| Chair: Marian TUDOR, Danube Delta National Institute | |
| Status of Sturgeon populations in Danube upstream of the Iron Gate; Thomas FRIEDRICH, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (presentation 15 minutes + 15 min Q/A) |
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| Status of wild Sturgeon populations in the Lower Danube – results from selected current monitoring approaches of sturgeon life-cycle-segments shared presentation of 5 minutes per contribution with contributions from S. MIHOV (World Wide Fund for Nature Bulgaria), Gorčin CVIJANOVIC (Institute for Biological Research, Serbia), S. BUSHUIEV (Institute of Econology, Ukraine); Marian PARASCHIV. (Danube Delta National Institute, Romania) and Tudor IONESCU (”Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, Romania) and common conclusions (10 min.) presented by Radu SUCIU (Danube Sturgeon Task Force/International Association for Danube Research) | |
| Q/A + discussion of findings (25 min) | |
| 12:45 - 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 15:00 | Continuation session 2: |
| Theoretical requirements for a coherent life-cycle based population monitoring Erik ROCHARD, World Sturgeon Conservation Society |
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| Panel discussion (14:25- 15:15): Status of Danube Sturgeon populations and monitoring (including the participation of other range countries bordering the Black Sea); with representatives of responsible institutions from Serbia - Dusan OGNJANOVIC, Romania - Nela MIAUTĂ, Bulgaria - Valeri GEORGIEV, Moldova - Veronica JOSU, Ukraine - Anastasiia DRAPALIUK, Georgia - Archil GUCHMANIDZE, Turkey - Ayse ORUC | |
| Plenary discussion: 20 min | |
| 15:15 - 17:00 | Session 3 - Sustainable Management of wild populations of sturgeons |
| Chair: Gheorghe CONSTANTIN, Romanian Ministry of Water and Forests | |
| How long time is needed for a sturgeon fishing ban to be effective in recovering the population? Peter GAMMELTOFT, Danube Sturgeon Task Force (20 min + 5 min Q/A) |
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| Management of wild sturgeon populations Nicolae DIMULESCU, Romanian National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture (15 min + 5 min Q/A) |
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| Panel discussion 1 – Future of fishing bans in Lower Danube (16:00 – 16:40) (representatives of competent authorities of Serbia - Dusan OGNJANOVIC (Ministry of Environment), Romania - Cătălin ȚIBULEAC (Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority) and Nicolae DIMULESCU (NAFA Romania), Bulgaria - Galin NIKOLOV (National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture), Ukraine - Inna HOCH (World Wide Fund for Nature, on behalf of National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture) | |
| Plenary discussion incl. fishermen: 20 min. | |
| 17:00-17:30 | Coffee break |
| 17.30 - 18:45 | Continuation session 3: |
| Introduction to the existing challenges in the Black Sea region - overview of legal situation in place for Black Sea Simon NICOLAEV, National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa” Constanta (15 min + 5 Q/A) |
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| Panel discussion 2 – what is needed to enhance the protection of sturgeons in the Black Sea region (Coastal areas and open sea)? (17:50- 18:25) panel discussion with representatives of competent National Authorities for Fishery and Aquaculture of Romania - Nicolae DIMULESCU, Bulgaria - Galin NIKOLOV, Ukraine - Inna HOCH (World Wide Fund for Nature on behalf of NAFA), Georgia - Karlo AMIRGULASHVILI (Ministry of Environment), Turkey - Niyazi Can GOKCINAR. | |
| Plenary discussion incl. fishermen: 20 min. | |
| Summary first day / first conclusions: Danube Sturgeon Task Force – Peter GAMMELTOFT 18:50 – 19:00 . | |
| 19.30 – 22:00 | Dinner (wine and cheese tasting) |
Programme
The three day programme can be viewed below. Click on the titles to show additional information.
| 09:00 - 10:15 | Session 4: - Habitats and Migration |
| Chair: Florian BALLNUS, EUSDR PAC 6 | |
| Protection and restoration of habitats and migration corridors are prerequisites for the survival of sturgeons in the wild and for effectiveness of conservation measures Jürg BLOESCH, International Association for Danube Research (15 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| EU MEASURES project – challenges to overcome, first results and further actions needed Thomas FRIEDRICH, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (15 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| WePass: Iron Gate Feasibility Study – State of play Karl SCHWAIGER, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (15 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| Summary by chair of potential key messages resulting from presentations (10 min) | |
| 10:15 – 11:30 | Session 5 Active support of populations |
| Chair: Jörn GESSNER, World Sturgeon Conservation Society | |
| Experience and lessons learnt with restocking programs for European sturgeons based on ex – situ facilities and cross border cooperation by French and German institutions Eric ROCHARD, National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (IRSTEA) (15 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| Experiences and lessons learnt with restocking programs in Italy Paolo BRONZI, World Sturgeon Conservation Society (15 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| The ongoing search for an ex-situ facility upstream of the Iron Gate – Feasibility study of ICPDR Thomas FRIEDRICH, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (5 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| First ideas on a concept for an ex situ – facility in Lower Danube / Black Sea region proposed speaker: Tudor IONESCU, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati (5min + 5 Q/A) |
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| 11:30 - 12:00 | Coffee Break |
| 12:00 - 13:15 | Continuation session 5 |
| Introduction in the genetic management of brood stocks in ex situ measures Leonardo CONGIU, World Sturgeon Conservation Society (15 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| Potential funding instruments and prerequisites to apply for support Sophie OUZET, EC DG ENV (15 min + 10 Q/A) |
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| Summary by chair of potential key messages resulting from presentations (10 min) | |
| 13:15 - 14:15 | Lunch |
| 14:15 - 16:30 | Session 6 – Discussion of next steps |
| Chair: Sophie OUZET, EC-DG ENV The goal of this session is to discuss concrete next steps with a time horizon until the end of 2020/2021 with experts / focal points responsible for the implementation of the PANEUAP. The session will briefly be introduced by the chair, followed by a presentation and a panel discussion. |
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| “National action plan for the preservation of the sturgeon population in the Danube and the Black Sea”. Nela MIAUTĂ, Ministry of Environment RO (15 min +10 Q/A) |
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| Panel discussion 1– Lower Danube + plenary discussion: where are we and what will be our next steps? (14:40 – 15:30) - with representatives of responsible ministries from Serbia - Dusan OGNJANOVIC, Romania - Nela MIAUTĂ , Ukraine - Anastasiia DRAPALIUK, Moldova - Veronica JOSU , Bulgaria - Valeri GEORGIEV; WWF - Irene LUCIUS | |
| Panel discussion 2 – Black sea region + plenary discussion; where are we and what will be our next steps? (15:30 – 16:10) with representatives of responsible ministries from Romania - Doina CIOACA, Bulgaria - Valeri GEORGIEV; Ukraine - Anastasiia DRAPALIUK, Georgia - Carl AMIRGULASHVILI, Turkey (tbc) | |
| Summary by chair of potential key messages resulting from discussions (20 min) | |
| 16.30-17.00 | Coffee break |
| 17:00 - 18:00 | Endorsement of key messages and recommendations for implementation of PANEUAP |
| Chair: Peter GAMMELTOFT, Danube Sturgeon Task Force The set of key messages and recommendations for next steps, which have been discussed in the sessions, will be presented by the chairs of each session with the aim of being endorsed in plenary. |
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| 18:00 | Closure of Conference |
| 19.00 - … | Festive Dinner and the opening of the "Centuries of Danube Sturgeon" Art Exhibition |
Programme
The three day programme can be viewed below. Click on the titles to show additional information.
| 09.00 - 12.00 | Technical seminar Biomark, Vemco, MDS Electric |
| 12.00 - 13.00 | Lunch |
| 13.00-16.00 | Danube Sturgeon Task Force meeting (agenda for DSTF meeting will be submitted 4 weeks prior to conference) |
