Some aspects of fishery development of sturgeon hybrids in Russia. Part 2

For the first time GUBA hybrid between the Russian sturgeon (the Azov population) and the Siberian sturgeon (the Lena population) was obtained in 1979 by the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) staff. Experimental crosses were carried out between 1979 and 1983 at the Aksai fish farm and the Vzmorye sturgeon fish hatchery (Rostov Region) [4; 28]. Later, work with this hybrid was carried out in the Astrakhan region by several scientists from KaspNIRKh [32; 33], as well as by the VNIRO staff in the Vologda Region [37–39] and at the Southern Branch of the Federal Breeding and Genetic Selection Centre for Fishery in the Krasnodar Krai [35]. Under RAS conditions, a reciprocal hybrid between the Siberian sturgeon of the Lena population and the Russian sturgeon was studied in Poland [9; 40], and a hybrid between Russian and Siberian sturgeon - in Belarus [3].

Large multi-age herds of GUBA hybrid were created in several farms in Russia: in the Krasnodar Krai, Vologda, Ryazan, Kostroma and Moscow regions [10; 13; 23]. In appearance, it is most similar to the Siberian sturgeon. In 2006, the staff of the BIOS Scientific and Production Centre for Sturgeon Breeding (Astrakhan) developed biotechnical standards for obtaining fish stocking material of the Russian sturgeon × Siberian sturgeon hybrid when grown in the VI fish breeding zone of Russia in the Volga water of the Astrakhan Region. When growing 1+ and 2+ hybrids at the BIOS Scientific and Production Centre in the VI fish-breeding zone in the pool and culture nets with the natural temperatures, their average weight was 7–10% more than that of the Russian sturgeon. The second, third and fourth generations of GUBA were obtained from the Southern Branch of the Federal Breeding and Genetic Selection Centre for Fishery (Krasnodar, Russia). The breeding quality of the F₁ and F₂ hybrid was evaluated at the Kaduyrybkhoz cage farm. It was found that the survival rate of F₁ was slightly higher than that of F₂ and close to that of the Siberian sturgeon. The average weight of growing stock by generations differed insignificantly and in the conditions of the given economy was approximately 180 g, while the average weight of growing stock of Siberian sturgeon under the same conditions was 150 g [39].