Sitting in the plaskart full of people, i am torn between mixed feelings of happiness, sadness and fear. Happiness to start the real adventure, a moment i have waited for for so long, a unique soliogical experience into the heart of Russia. Sadness to leave good and careful friends in a peaceful environment. And fear to go deeper alone into the unknown, so scary after stories and recommendations i have read and received. My neighbours, who are not aware of the privilege they have to share this important moment with me, are a mother with her daughter, two men alone and a woman alone. We wil be sharing this 4m3 room for the next 12 hours. All seem very used to night train plaskat practices and have prepared their beds in a few minutes while i am enjoying every second realizing where i am.
Welcome in Xabarovsk by the leader of German network for Russian Far East Anna, I have the chance to discover the university and take part for the time of a meeting in the organization of a graffiti festival in coming August. I am also welcome by prestigious Russian people such as Xabarov the explorator and Pouchkine the poet.
Xabarovsk is a city founded on 3 hills and turned towards Amur river. What a charmful place! Active and with a beautiful architecture, its old buildings of maximum 2-3 levels, colored with pastels or built with small bricks, along large and clean streets.
The approahc of Amur river is taking my wonder to its paroxism. A large square, with a colorful church and traditional war memorial, overlooks this majestuous river running to the North. At this time of year, it is a large space of ice and snow where people walk and enjoy fresh air.
With its 4416km flow the largest river in Russia, it is interesting to notice that Amur for a long time had been pouring its waters into the Yellow Sea and only in the Quarternary times acquired the current profile. This comprehensive record of formation laid its footprint on the fish fauna too, numbering over a hundred species. Among them, the Amur river in the Russian Far East is home to four species of the family Acipenseridae: kaluga Huso dauricus, Amur sturgeon Acipenser schrenckii, Salihalin sturgeon A. Mikadoi, and sterlet A. Ruthenus. Only kaluga and Amur sturgeon are endemic to this river (Berg 1948, Nikolslkii 1956). Kaluga is the largest freshwater in this river system reaching 5.6m in length and 1000kg in weight.
Historically, both were commercial species and the survival of sturgeon populations in the Amur river became problematic after the turn of the 20th century. The number of individuals in the lower Amur river population at age 2 or greater was recently estimated to be 40,000, and in the middle Amur 30,000. The population will continue to decline because of rampant over-fishing. For note, populations in the Zeya and Bureya rivers are extremely small and on the verge of extinction.
Amur sturgeon and kaluga at the aquarium of Vladivostok
Historically, both were commercial species and the survival of sturgeon populations in the Amur river became problematic after the turn of the 20th century. The number of individuals in the lower Amur river population at age 2 or greater was recently estimated to be 40,000, and in the middle Amur 30,000. The population will continue to decline because of rampant over-fishing. For note, populations in the Zeya and Bureya rivers are extremely small and on the verge of extinction.
Amur sturgeon and kaluga at the aquarium of Vladivostok
A conservation program has been put into place for Amur river basin, based on 9 zapovedniks (reserve areas) and 8 zakazniks (restricted use areas).
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