The main factors determining the long-term dynamics of the stock and the state of the Azov population of the great sturgeon Linnaeus, 1758 are analyzed. Data on the dynamics of stocks, commercial catches, and features of spawning migrations of great sturgeon in the basin of the Sea of Azov are presented. An assessment of the effectiveness of measures for artificial reproduction of great sturgeon in conditions of loss of natural reproduction is given. It is shown that the scale of artificial reproduction of great sturgeon did not ensure the accumulation of older age groups in the population and the formation of a spawning stock under the influence of illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing. Currently, artificial reproduction of the great sturgeon in the basin of the Sea of Azov supports only the existence of the species.
V. A. Luzhnyak (Wed,) studied this question.