STURGEON DISEASES IN AQUACULTURE

Sturgeon aquaculture is economically important in many countries, for both meat and caviar production. Sturgeon is the common name for 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. Among them, only the sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) and the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) completes the lifecycle in fresh water. In Serbia, in the last few years, aquaculture enterprises have shown more interest in farming these fish species. Also, the importance of sturgeon aquaculture grows due to the rapid decrease of wild populations caused by overfishing, water pollution and destruction of habitat. The development of sturgeon aquaculture activities has been accompanied by the disease outbreaks, and possibility of the emergence and rapid dissemination of several infectious disease agents may represent serious problem in sturgeon aquaculture. Several viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic diseases have been reported worldwide. Due to the limited knowledge about epizootiology and disease control methods, infectious diseases may represent a major challenge in sturgeon aquaculture. Moreover, none of the diseases reported in sturgeon are regulated in the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) or European Union (EU) legislations. Due to the increasing interest in sturgeon aquaculture in Serbia present study is focused on the most important pathogens that may represent a threat to sturgeon aquaculture in Serbia.