WEBVTT FILE

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(lively violin music)

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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It's caviar, the food of the rich.

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It is so sophisticated.

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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(lively violin music)

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It's really like no other food,

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that taste of the ocean, of the sea.

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(Rufat speaks in Russian)

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It's not just food that you put in your mouth,

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it's an experience.

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(lively violin music)

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Caviar, known for being

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the most expensive food on earth.

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People are willing to pay amazing sums for it.

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Throughout history, caviar

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has been the most coveted of delicacies.

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It has this myth around it that adds to its value.

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People associate caviar with sophistication and power.

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Caviar has it all.

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On the one hand, royal families consume caviar

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and on the other hand criminal gangsters,

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so the upper world meets the underworld.

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In the past, it was actually the food of the poor.

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When I lived in Russia, we had caviar for breakfast,

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because it was so plentiful.

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Today it can sell for up to $35,000 a kilo.

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Everyone's heard of caviar.

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People associate caviar with luxury.

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It's the most expensive food on the planet,

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but I suspect that very few people understand

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where caviar actually comes from.

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This extraordinary food is in fact

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just the eggs of a fish.

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But this is no ordinary fish.

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This is a fish whose fate has been shaped

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by politics, religion and war.

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(lively violin music)
(explosions blasting)

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Once plentiful, they are now

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the most endangered group of species on earth.

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It's 250 million years old.

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It's like we are losing a dinosaur from our planet.

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It could withstand ice ages, and it could withstand

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all the changes that have happened to the world

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in the last 190 million years,

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but the one thing they couldn't withstand

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was industrialization.

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History has not been kind to these fish.

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It is kind of amazing that they have survived this long.

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Now the battle is on

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to save this extraordinary, prehistoric creature.

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This really is a race against time.

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If we do nothing, these species

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will undoubtedly become extinct.

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(water splashing)

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This is the incredible story of the sturgeon

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and one man's obsession to save it from oblivion.

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(lively violin music)

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(eerie music)

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Nowhere is the sturgeon more entrenched

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in its history and culture than the Caspian Sea.

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(gentle music)

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At 1.4 million square miles, the Caspian

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is the biggest inland body of water on the planet.

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(gentle music)

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It's larger than all of North America's

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Great Lakes combined.

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It's a remnant of the ancient ocean Tethys,

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which around 50 million years ago

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connected the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.

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(dramatic music)

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Today it is completely landlocked.

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Some 130 rivers feed into the Caspian.

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But it's unique biodiversity is now under threat.

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(water bubbling)

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(ominous music)

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During the Soviet era pollution from oil refineries,

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dam building, overfishing and poaching

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has led to a massive 90% decline

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of the Caspian sturgeon population.

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And now the Caspian is in grave danger of being unable

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to sustain marine life.

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(dramatic music)

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One of the five countries

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that surrounds the Caspian Sea is Azerbaijan.

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(gentle music)

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This former Soviet republic, straddling east and west,

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is leading the way to protect this fragile sea.

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In its capital Baku, once an ancient Silk Road center,

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and now a modern marvel, built on oil wealth,

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the stage is being set for the Caspian Sea nations

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to restore the fragile health

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of this rapidly deteriorating marine environment.

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Leading the charge to bring back the sturgeon

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to the Caspian, is marine biologist Rory Moore.

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Rory works for the Blue Marine Foundation

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whose aim is to protect and restore

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marine environments across the globe.

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(gentle piano music)
(whistle blows)

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I love Azerbaijan because it's different.

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It's an adventure, something is always happening,

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but it's very different working here

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to any other places where we have projects.

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His mission for the last four years

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has been to establish a marine-protected area

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in the south of Azerbaijan.

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(waves crashing)

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If successful, this 100,000-hectare stretch of water

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will be the first of its kind in the Caspian Sea,

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and will create a safe haven that will give the sturgeon

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one last chance to make a comeback.

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(gentle music)
(birds chirping)

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My main fear is the six species of sturgeon

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are going to go extinct

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unless what we're doing right now works.

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We have to restore the natural habitat for these fish,

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otherwise they're not gonna be able to spawn.

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I just don't think failure is an option really.

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Today Rory is addressing representatives

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from the Caspian countries at a summit

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held by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology.

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My job today is to convince people

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that marine protected areas work,

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that this marine protected area in Azerbaijan

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will work for sturgeon species,

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because it's an area that's crucial

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for the first few years of their life.

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Rory believes the only way

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to protect the sturgeon from being lost forever

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is to sign this marine protected area into law.

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And if we don't do it,

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then these fish will become extinct.

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But there is far more to these fish

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than providing luxury food to the rich and powerful.

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To look at a sturgeon is to gaze back to an ancient world.

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These amazing creatures have withstood the tests of time

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and have barely changed for millions of years.

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(gentle music)

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They are designed to be survivors.

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Their skin is rough, thick and covered

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with their protective armor, bony, shell-shaped plates,

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otherwise known as scutes.

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Of all of fresh water species of fish,

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sturgeon live the longest

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with an average lifespan of 50 to 60 years.

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The beluga sturgeon can live to over 100.

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(gentle music)

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They're bottom-dwellers and use their four whiskers,

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or barbels, which dangle in front of their mouth,

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to feel for food.

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But despite surviving whatever killed off the dinosaurs

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in the Ice Age, over the past 150 years

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this fish has been brought to the brink by humans.

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(suspenseful music)

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The turning point for the sturgeon's fortunes in the Caspian

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began during the final years of the Russian Empire.

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(suspenseful music)
(explosions blasting)

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(crowd screaming)

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After two World Wars, The Bolshevik Revolution,

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the Soviet's quest for modernity

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and through the construction of dams and factories,

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the sturgeon population was sent into a downward spiral.

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Stalin built the Volgograd dam

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as part of the process of electrifying Russia,

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which was a major step towards industrialization.

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And that's spelled disaster for the sturgeon

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because it blocked their path back up the river to migrate,

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so they could no longer go

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to all their old spawning grounds.

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Any attempts to stabilize

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the sturgeon population were scuppered

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by the breakup of the Soviet Union

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which led to a frenzy of overfishing.

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Numbers plummeted to a new low.

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It absolutely decimated the sturgeon population.

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People knew that if they could get that caviar to last,

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they could make enormous fortunes.

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(dramatic music)

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For the last four years

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Rory has been building his case

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to secure the first marine protected area in the Caspian.

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(motorcycle engine revving)

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The proposed site is next to an area of fishing communities

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in Southern Azerbaijan.

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During the 1970s and the '80s,

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towards the end of the Soviet era,

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sturgeon and salmon were fished to the brink of extinction,

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which led to a Caspian wide ban in 2009.

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(gentle music)

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With a dwindling number of fish to catch,

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many here are struggling to make ends meet.

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(suspenseful music)

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This stretch of water could be the perfect place

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for sturgeon to thrive.

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This shallow, brackish bay is crucial,

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because when sturgeon come down the river,

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they come out of the river mouth,

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and they look for a shallow area that's not too salty,

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because these fish have just come out of fresh water,

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that's all they've ever seen.

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So they need to adjust to the sea.

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But there is a problem.

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It's perilously close to a traditional fishing ground.

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(suspenseful music)
(motorcycle engine revving)

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These fishermen have come from miles around

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on their motorbikes to scrape a living

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from whatever fish remain in these waters.

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(motorcycle engine revving)
(dramatic music)

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Like many generations before them,

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they're using gill nets, which are walls of netting

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that trap fish by becoming entangled in their gills,

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as they try to swim through.

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Gill nets are a massive problem for sturgeon,

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because we know that once or twice a year

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they come from the sea, and they come to the river mouth

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and they swim up them to spawn.

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So the fishermen extend these nets

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over the river mouth or up the shoreline,

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and they'll catch anything that's moving.

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It just shows that this area really,

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really needs protecting, because there's very little

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to stop this happening.

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With the value of caviar so high,

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any sturgeon caught in these gill nets

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are a temptation to keep.

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The fishing communities around here,

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they live off the sea, obviously,

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and it's a really gray area

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between what's poaching and what's not.

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You never see sturgeon in their boats,

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but then they'd never show us.

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With barely any sturgeon left to catch,

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and poor returns on other fish,

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many in these coastal fishing communities

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have fallen on hard times.

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You can't underestimate the impact you have on communities

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if you're trying to protect these fish.

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These fish are incredibly valuable.

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If you're taking away the opportunity

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for someone to poach a sturgeon,

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you can be taking hundreds of dollars

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away from their household, which means,

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you know, a yearly income.

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So it's dangerous, because these fish are so valuable.

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There's a price on their heads.

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(suspenseful music)
(dog barks)

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In these closed fishing communities

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talk of poaching is a taboo subject.

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And many feel bitter that it brought about

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the demise of their livelihood.

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I'm Rory.
Zafar.

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When you were fishing years ago

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before sturgeon fishing was illegal,

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did you catch very big fish around here?

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(Zafar speaks in foreign language)

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The sturgeon, the fish,

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must've been a very big part of your life.

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Now that it's gone, does that feel like a great loss?

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(Zafar speaks in foreign language)

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(gentle music)

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Securing this 100,000-hectare site

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as a protected area, would mean

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that all fishing would be banned,

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giving the critically endangered sturgeon

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a chance at survival.

266
00:14:05.630 --> 00:14:08.200
Accompanied by local park rangers,

267
00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:12.263
Rory is heading out to the vast open waters of the Caspian.

268
00:14:15.210 --> 00:14:19.610
He wants to take a look at what lies beneath the surface.

269
00:14:19.610 --> 00:14:23.259
Something, very few scientists have done.

270
00:14:23.259 --> 00:14:25.842
(gentle music)

271
00:14:30.310 --> 00:14:33.050
So right now we're in the channel

272
00:14:33.050 --> 00:14:35.110
that runs from the Caspian Sea

273
00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:37.520
right up into Vileshchay river mouth.

274
00:14:37.520 --> 00:14:41.540
So I'm looking for the ideal habitat for juvenile sturgeon,

275
00:14:41.540 --> 00:14:43.070
and I need to find food for them.

276
00:14:43.070 --> 00:14:45.383
Because if they can't feed, they can't be here.

277
00:14:47.900 --> 00:14:51.820
If I can prove that this area is perfect for sturgeon

278
00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:53.320
once they come down the river,

279
00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:56.060
and they sort of acclimatize to the Caspian Sea,

280
00:14:56.060 --> 00:14:58.550
then I can put together a really good argument

281
00:14:58.550 --> 00:14:59.600
to protect this area.

282
00:15:01.298 --> 00:15:02.983
And let's see what we've got.

283
00:15:04.852 --> 00:15:06.950
This is great, look at this, this is full of shrimp.

284
00:15:06.950 --> 00:15:09.480
It's full of tiny crustaceans.

285
00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:11.890
This is exactly what sturgeon want to eat.

286
00:15:11.890 --> 00:15:16.420
You can see here tiny, little shrimp.

287
00:15:16.420 --> 00:15:20.050
This is the ideal diet for juvenile sturgeon.

288
00:15:20.050 --> 00:15:21.067
This is what they're gonna be feeding on

289
00:15:21.067 --> 00:15:23.000
for the first few years of their life

290
00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.720
before they make their migration out into the Caspian Sea.

291
00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.010
They might spend 15 years before they come back

292
00:15:29.010 --> 00:15:31.060
to this river to reproduce again.

293
00:15:31.060 --> 00:15:33.560
So, this couldn't be better.

294
00:15:33.560 --> 00:15:36.800
(gentle music)

295
00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:39.440
No one is certain just how many sturgeon

296
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.373
are left in the Caspian and its surrounding rivers.

297
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International experts have predicted

298
00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:48.640
that at the current rate of decline,

299
00:15:48.640 --> 00:15:52.210
sturgeon will be fully extinct in the wild

300
00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:53.473
within just a few years.

301
00:15:55.570 --> 00:15:57.470
Rory would be extremely lucky

302
00:15:57.470 --> 00:15:59.713
if he saw a wild sturgeon here.

303
00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.590
So he's going to try a completely different way

304
00:16:03.590 --> 00:16:06.090
of finding this elusive fish.

305
00:16:06.090 --> 00:16:09.603
Something never done before in the Caspian sea.

306
00:16:13.150 --> 00:16:16.380
In Surrey, just outside of London, UK,

307
00:16:16.380 --> 00:16:19.760
a team of researchers are using a groundbreaking tool

308
00:16:19.760 --> 00:16:22.413
that changes everything in marine science.

309
00:16:24.090 --> 00:16:28.520
Using environmental DNA, or just eDNA,

310
00:16:28.520 --> 00:16:32.400
scientists can now identify fish and other animals

311
00:16:32.400 --> 00:16:35.643
just by collecting a small sample of water.

312
00:16:37.284 --> 00:16:40.560
eDNA is genetic material that we collect,

313
00:16:40.560 --> 00:16:43.870
which isn't attached to the animal that it came from.

314
00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:45.400
So what we now understand

315
00:16:45.400 --> 00:16:47.670
is that when animals that live in water,

316
00:16:47.670 --> 00:16:49.690
or they come into contact with water,

317
00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:52.090
they leave traces of genetic material,

318
00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:54.540
just like how when we touch things with our hands,

319
00:16:54.540 --> 00:16:57.460
we leave a fingerprint, and there's DNA in that fingerprint

320
00:16:57.460 --> 00:17:00.600
that we can use to identify the person it came from.

321
00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:04.230
And we can catch that material from the water

322
00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:06.660
and isolate genetics from it,

323
00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:09.410
and use that to identify the species that it came from.

324
00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:15.380
The old way of doing it was quite invasive for the fish.

325
00:17:15.380 --> 00:17:18.350
So it involved pulling them out of the water,

326
00:17:18.350 --> 00:17:20.453
electrocuting them, so they're stunned,

327
00:17:21.300 --> 00:17:24.570
and the more we can do to reduce the impact

328
00:17:24.570 --> 00:17:26.870
that we have on the actual animal, the better.

329
00:17:29.276 --> 00:17:31.260
eDNA testing is a new technology.

330
00:17:31.260 --> 00:17:33.640
When I was in university, studying marine biology,

331
00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:35.070
it didn't exist.

332
00:17:35.070 --> 00:17:37.200
If you wanted to know which fish were here,

333
00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:39.950
you'd have to net for them, you'd have to dive

334
00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:40.870
and see if you can find them,

335
00:17:40.870 --> 00:17:42.120
and then you'd have to track them.

336
00:17:42.120 --> 00:17:45.670
With eDNA testing I can find out what's here

337
00:17:45.670 --> 00:17:46.830
without doing any of that.

338
00:17:46.830 --> 00:17:49.190
Now, no one's ever done that in this National Park,

339
00:17:49.190 --> 00:17:51.250
and no one's ever done that in the Caspian Sea.

340
00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:55.040
So it's a real first, and it's gonna be really exciting

341
00:17:55.040 --> 00:17:55.873
to get a result.

342
00:17:57.003 --> 00:17:59.586
(gentle music)

343
00:18:00.600 --> 00:18:02.810
There's been so much overfishing in this sea

344
00:18:02.810 --> 00:18:05.250
over the last 50 years that we don't know

345
00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:07.040
if they're here anymore.

346
00:18:07.040 --> 00:18:09.830
So I would hope to find sturgeon, you know,

347
00:18:09.830 --> 00:18:12.950
one, two, three, four, five species of.

348
00:18:12.950 --> 00:18:15.040
But I hope to find Caspian salmon.

349
00:18:15.040 --> 00:18:17.150
And then I think we might find some lamprey,

350
00:18:17.150 --> 00:18:18.870
maybe some pike-perch.

351
00:18:18.870 --> 00:18:20.190
And we might find something

352
00:18:20.190 --> 00:18:21.840
that no one even knows it's here.

353
00:18:23.550 --> 00:18:25.493
And my biggest fear is

354
00:18:25.493 --> 00:18:27.590
that there's not going to be anything in here.

355
00:18:27.590 --> 00:18:29.100
We're gonna take it to the lab,

356
00:18:29.100 --> 00:18:31.333
and they're gonna tell me that there's no fish.

357
00:18:34.360 --> 00:18:36.270
Collecting an eDNA sample

358
00:18:36.270 --> 00:18:38.420
might only take a few minutes,

359
00:18:38.420 --> 00:18:40.910
but Rory will have to wait several weeks

360
00:18:40.910 --> 00:18:43.003
before these results can be revealed.

361
00:18:44.083 --> 00:18:46.666
(gentle music)

362
00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:53.860
The Caspian isn't the only part of the world

363
00:18:53.860 --> 00:18:56.220
where sturgeon can be found.

364
00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:58.280
In fact, they inhabit the waters

365
00:18:58.280 --> 00:19:00.553
all across the Northern Hemisphere.

366
00:19:02.870 --> 00:19:05.550
Nine of the 26 sturgeon species

367
00:19:05.550 --> 00:19:08.160
can be found in North America.

368
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.450
And just like their Caspian cousins,

369
00:19:10.450 --> 00:19:13.023
history has been deeply unkind to them.

370
00:19:14.516 --> 00:19:17.040
(gentle piano music)

371
00:19:17.040 --> 00:19:21.300
In the late 1800s there were more than 15 million sturgeon

372
00:19:21.300 --> 00:19:22.953
in the Great Lakes alone.

373
00:19:23.970 --> 00:19:26.420
Sturgeon originally were very, very abundant.

374
00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:29.060
They were so abundant, that they actually became a nuisance

375
00:19:29.060 --> 00:19:31.000
to commercial fishermen and their gear.

376
00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:33.130
So often they would just take them out of their nets,

377
00:19:33.130 --> 00:19:34.220
and they would throw them onshore

378
00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:36.540
and stack them up like cordwood, let them dry out.

379
00:19:36.540 --> 00:19:39.540
They would burn them in steamers on the Great Lakes as fuel.

380
00:19:42.110 --> 00:19:46.510
It wasn't always universally loved and desired.

381
00:19:46.510 --> 00:19:49.700
For a very long time people in Western Europe

382
00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:53.720
and in the United States were repulsed by this fish.

383
00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:57.070
And amazingly, if they would catch a sturgeon,

384
00:19:57.070 --> 00:19:59.800
they would feed the raw to their pigs,

385
00:19:59.800 --> 00:20:01.803
because it had no value to them.

386
00:20:04.230 --> 00:20:06.810
This all changed in the 1880s

387
00:20:06.810 --> 00:20:09.823
with the arrival of European caviar traders.

388
00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:14.390
A couple of Germans came over and showed people

389
00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:17.120
how to process the caviar, and how you can make

390
00:20:17.120 --> 00:20:19.270
a very nice smoked meat product.

391
00:20:19.270 --> 00:20:21.257
It was called Albany beef at the time.

392
00:20:21.257 --> 00:20:24.170
And a huge industry then sprung up for the flesh,

393
00:20:24.170 --> 00:20:26.620
and especially for the caviar, and they would ship

394
00:20:26.620 --> 00:20:29.200
barrels and barrels of caviar back to Europe.

395
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:31.600
The nouveaux riches of France and Germany

396
00:20:31.600 --> 00:20:34.770
had completely taken to caviar.

397
00:20:34.770 --> 00:20:36.670
Many important establishments

398
00:20:36.670 --> 00:20:38.840
such as the Ritz hotel in Paris,

399
00:20:38.840 --> 00:20:42.430
started to include caviar on their menus.

400
00:20:42.430 --> 00:20:45.930
For a brief time in the late 19th century

401
00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:49.550
New Jersey was the largest producer of caviar in the world.

402
00:20:49.550 --> 00:20:51.610
There was more caviar going to Europe

403
00:20:51.610 --> 00:20:54.273
from the USA than from Russia.

404
00:20:55.350 --> 00:20:57.950
It was so abundant, because there were so many sturgeon.

405
00:20:57.950 --> 00:21:00.380
So for a number of years the bars would just use them

406
00:21:00.380 --> 00:21:03.550
like they would peanuts, just for bar food,

407
00:21:03.550 --> 00:21:05.180
just to bring the patrons in.

408
00:21:05.180 --> 00:21:07.280
And it was a nice salty thing,

409
00:21:07.280 --> 00:21:08.980
so it made people drink more beer.

410
00:21:10.870 --> 00:21:12.720
In this frenzy of demand,

411
00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.360
the rivers and lakes in the Eastern USA

412
00:21:15.360 --> 00:21:17.990
became empty of sturgeon.

413
00:21:17.990 --> 00:21:19.320
It was a gold rush.

414
00:21:19.320 --> 00:21:21.910
There was just so much money to be made.

415
00:21:21.910 --> 00:21:25.170
Nobody really thought about, well,

416
00:21:25.170 --> 00:21:27.070
if these sturgeons aren't spawning,

417
00:21:27.070 --> 00:21:30.600
and if there's no new generation being born,

418
00:21:30.600 --> 00:21:34.290
there'll be no sturgeon next year or the year after that.

419
00:21:34.290 --> 00:21:37.410
In just 30 years, sturgeon catches

420
00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:41.523
went from tens of thousands of fish down to only a handful.

421
00:21:42.950 --> 00:21:45.740
The world's insatiable appetite for caviar

422
00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:49.903
almost wiped out the entire American sturgeon population.

423
00:21:51.460 --> 00:21:56.250
When you catch a sturgeon, you don't just catch one fish.

424
00:21:56.250 --> 00:22:00.113
You eliminate the possibilities of future generations.

425
00:22:00.948 --> 00:22:03.531
(upbeat music)

426
00:22:07.518 --> 00:22:09.090
100 years later,

427
00:22:09.090 --> 00:22:12.290
in the heart of the Midwest of the United States,

428
00:22:12.290 --> 00:22:15.893
the sturgeon has become a conservation success story.

429
00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:20.600
Rory has traveled to Wisconsin to find out

430
00:22:20.600 --> 00:22:22.500
how one sturgeon population

431
00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:25.093
has managed to make an incredible comeback.

432
00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:30.490
In the Caspian we're up against so many challenges.

433
00:22:30.490 --> 00:22:34.000
It's kind of easy to think that it might be impossible

434
00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:35.330
to restore these populations.

435
00:22:35.330 --> 00:22:37.770
But they've done it here in Wisconsin,

436
00:22:37.770 --> 00:22:39.430
and I will learn how they've done it

437
00:22:39.430 --> 00:22:41.650
and take that back to the Caspian

438
00:22:41.650 --> 00:22:43.483
to restore populations there.

439
00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:48.583
For Rory this is also a very personal journey.

440
00:22:49.970 --> 00:22:52.540
It is in America where he first developed

441
00:22:52.540 --> 00:22:55.033
his affection for this prehistoric creature.

442
00:22:57.040 --> 00:22:59.360
Ever since I was a kid, I've been around fish.

443
00:22:59.360 --> 00:23:03.440
I spent my summers on my uncle's sturgeon farm in California

444
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:05.870
taking the eggs from the fish, fertilizing them,

445
00:23:05.870 --> 00:23:09.020
fishing a lot, taking the fish out of the tanks.

446
00:23:09.020 --> 00:23:14.020
And ever since I was sort of obsessed with rivers,

447
00:23:14.260 --> 00:23:17.483
with the ocean and with marine conservation in general.

448
00:23:18.333 --> 00:23:20.830
(gentle music)

449
00:23:20.830 --> 00:23:23.670
Rory is heading for a small town called Shawano

450
00:23:23.670 --> 00:23:25.403
on the banks of the Wolf River.

451
00:23:26.270 --> 00:23:29.730
It's known for being the best place on the planet

452
00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:31.763
to see sturgeon in the wild.

453
00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:35.220
This town is clearly all about sturgeon.

454
00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:37.810
I'm driving down the main road here,

455
00:23:37.810 --> 00:23:41.010
and I've just driven past a five-meter long sturgeon

456
00:23:41.010 --> 00:23:42.980
at the side of the road, not a real one,

457
00:23:42.980 --> 00:23:46.097
but they're obviously very important to the people

458
00:23:46.097 --> 00:23:47.233
who live around here.

459
00:23:49.100 --> 00:23:51.130
Sturgeon are extremely fussy

460
00:23:51.130 --> 00:23:53.420
about where they lay their eggs.

461
00:23:53.420 --> 00:23:55.510
And just to find the right spot,

462
00:23:55.510 --> 00:24:00.000
they'll travel over 100 miles, covering up to 20 miles a day

463
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:01.863
to reach their spawning grounds.

464
00:24:03.360 --> 00:24:05.930
The fish's internal wiring demands

465
00:24:05.930 --> 00:24:09.660
that it returns to the same area, even to the same spot

466
00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:12.723
where it was hatched many years earlier.

467
00:24:12.723 --> 00:24:14.590
(soft piano music)

468
00:24:14.590 --> 00:24:18.310
Despite dedicating many years to saving the sturgeon,

469
00:24:18.310 --> 00:24:21.083
Rory has never seen one in the wild.

470
00:24:22.650 --> 00:24:23.720
I'm excited, you know,

471
00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:25.810
I've been working with these fish for a long time

472
00:24:25.810 --> 00:24:29.480
and I've never seen sturgeon in the wild.

473
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:31.130
And I've never seen sturgeon spawning.

474
00:24:31.130 --> 00:24:33.333
So for me this is a big event.

475
00:24:34.730 --> 00:24:37.830
It's really exciting to go and actually see

476
00:24:37.830 --> 00:24:39.990
these prehistoric fish moving up the river

477
00:24:39.990 --> 00:24:41.650
and spawning naturally.

478
00:24:41.650 --> 00:24:44.694
There's no other place in the world where you could do that.

479
00:24:44.694 --> 00:24:47.277
(gentle music)

480
00:24:48.696 --> 00:24:51.529
(waves splashing)

481
00:24:53.130 --> 00:24:54.753
No way.

482
00:24:56.229 --> 00:24:58.729
(Rory laughs)

483
00:24:59.784 --> 00:25:02.534
(dramatic music)

484
00:25:03.800 --> 00:25:05.363
That is unbelievable.

485
00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:09.090
And right here.

486
00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:13.716
(Rory laughs)

487
00:25:13.716 --> 00:25:17.090
They're spawning right here on the gravel.

488
00:25:17.090 --> 00:25:18.610
They're coming right up onto the rocks

489
00:25:18.610 --> 00:25:19.710
and laying their eggs.

490
00:25:20.707 --> 00:25:22.866
(water splashing)

491
00:25:22.866 --> 00:25:24.300
And there's the female releasing her eggs,

492
00:25:24.300 --> 00:25:25.800
and the male fertilizing them.

493
00:25:27.320 --> 00:25:30.710
I've never seen anything like this before in my life.

494
00:25:30.710 --> 00:25:32.823
Remarkable, absolutely remarkable.

495
00:25:33.933 --> 00:25:36.683
(dramatic music)

496
00:25:37.840 --> 00:25:40.043
It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

497
00:25:41.030 --> 00:25:42.180
And they're everywhere.

498
00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:45.230
There must be hundreds of them.

499
00:25:46.415 --> 00:25:50.082
(dramatic orchestral music)

500
00:26:00.140 --> 00:26:01.447
What a great success.

501
00:26:01.447 --> 00:26:05.133
This is hugely exciting and hugely encouraging.

502
00:26:05.133 --> 00:26:06.520
Rory has been invited

503
00:26:06.520 --> 00:26:10.480
by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

504
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:11.313
Hello, Rory.

505
00:26:11.313 --> 00:26:13.270
And is joining Ryan Koenigs

506
00:26:13.270 --> 00:26:16.573
who leads their highly successful conservation program.

507
00:26:16.573 --> 00:26:18.133
This is.
(Ryan laughs)

508
00:26:18.133 --> 00:26:19.590
What we have here in Wisconsin,

509
00:26:19.590 --> 00:26:21.910
particularly the sturgeon population

510
00:26:21.910 --> 00:26:23.700
in the Winnebago area where I work,

511
00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:27.640
is probably the strongest sturgeon population in the world.

512
00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:29.730
How old are some of these fish spawning right here?

513
00:26:29.730 --> 00:26:31.330
Some of the fish in our population

514
00:26:31.330 --> 00:26:32.780
we believe to be over 100 years old.

515
00:26:32.780 --> 00:26:33.810
Wow.

516
00:26:33.810 --> 00:26:36.070
There's a wood carving up here,

517
00:26:36.070 --> 00:26:37.300
that's a fish that we handled.

518
00:26:37.300 --> 00:26:41.940
And in 2012 that fish was 87.5 inches long.

519
00:26:41.940 --> 00:26:45.740
We estimate that that fish would've been 100-120 years old

520
00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:47.230
when we handled her.

521
00:26:47.230 --> 00:26:49.490
There's a very nice fish within the Winnebago System.

522
00:26:49.490 --> 00:26:52.690
You'll see males today six feet long or longer,

523
00:26:52.690 --> 00:26:54.040
and you might see, if we're lucky,

524
00:26:54.040 --> 00:26:56.460
we might see a female that's close to seven feet long.

525
00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:58.046
I think people from all around the world

526
00:26:58.046 --> 00:26:59.430
are gonna come and see this,

527
00:26:59.430 --> 00:27:00.927
because this doesn't happen anywhere else.

528
00:27:00.927 --> 00:27:02.590
Yep.

529
00:27:02.590 --> 00:27:04.550
(gentle music)

530
00:27:04.550 --> 00:27:07.393
And people do come, lots of them.

531
00:27:09.700 --> 00:27:12.210
There's thousands of people come through here.

532
00:27:12.210 --> 00:27:14.950
Kids would be bussed in, you know, from different schools

533
00:27:14.950 --> 00:27:17.120
and people from out of state.

534
00:27:17.120 --> 00:27:19.280
Everybody comes around just to see the sturgeon,

535
00:27:19.280 --> 00:27:20.980
and it's a big deal for everybody.

536
00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:24.017
The word gets out, and they come.

537
00:27:24.017 --> 00:27:26.490
(upbeat music)

538
00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:27.840
The sturgeon run is one

539
00:27:27.840 --> 00:27:30.680
of America's great, natural spectacles,

540
00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:33.573
attracting crowds from across the country.

541
00:27:35.320 --> 00:27:37.910
It's a big deal to have the sturgeon in Wisconsin.

542
00:27:37.910 --> 00:27:39.340
We've always heard about it in the news,

543
00:27:39.340 --> 00:27:41.030
and this was the first time that we've gotten

544
00:27:41.030 --> 00:27:43.710
to take a shot at checking it out.

545
00:27:43.710 --> 00:27:45.289
It's pretty exciting.

546
00:27:45.289 --> 00:27:48.086
(people exclaiming)

547
00:27:48.086 --> 00:27:51.086
(lively folk music)

548
00:27:59.176 --> 00:28:00.320
Shouldn't even park here.

549
00:28:00.320 --> 00:28:02.700
For biologist Ryan Koenigs,

550
00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:05.210
this 10-day spawning period is by far

551
00:28:05.210 --> 00:28:07.230
his busiest time of year.

552
00:28:07.230 --> 00:28:10.830
(lively folk music)

553
00:28:10.830 --> 00:28:14.290
Sturgeon had been making the same journey up these waterways

554
00:28:14.290 --> 00:28:16.883
for the past 14,000 years.

555
00:28:18.140 --> 00:28:21.583
They've one thing in mind, to reproduce.

556
00:28:23.760 --> 00:28:28.320
In the shallow water females lay their eggs on the rocks.

557
00:28:28.320 --> 00:28:32.910
When they are ready, the males suddenly thrash their tails

558
00:28:32.910 --> 00:28:36.003
to secure a good position next to a spawning female.

559
00:28:37.340 --> 00:28:41.660
Within seven days, thousands of these eggs will be hatched.

560
00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:44.393
But only a few will make it to adulthood.

561
00:28:46.620 --> 00:28:50.340
Ryan and his team are responsible for monitoring the fish

562
00:28:50.340 --> 00:28:52.923
and to gather as much data as possible.

563
00:28:54.420 --> 00:28:55.940
We measure the fish, we determine

564
00:28:55.940 --> 00:28:57.460
whether they're male or female.

565
00:28:57.460 --> 00:28:59.810
75.6, you got that, Mike?

566
00:28:59.810 --> 00:29:01.760
And we check to see if they're tagged or untagged.

567
00:29:01.760 --> 00:29:03.990
And that information that we're collecting

568
00:29:03.990 --> 00:29:06.919
allows us to learn a lot about the population.

569
00:29:06.919 --> 00:29:08.230
114.

570
00:29:08.230 --> 00:29:09.510
When the fish are as big as you,

571
00:29:09.510 --> 00:29:11.940
it makes the job a little difficult.

572
00:29:11.940 --> 00:29:13.650
If you wanna work with big fish like these,

573
00:29:13.650 --> 00:29:15.298
you gotta be tough.

574
00:29:15.298 --> 00:29:18.377
(lively music)

575
00:29:18.377 --> 00:29:20.358
I think we're doing this.

576
00:29:20.358 --> 00:29:22.941
(lively music)

577
00:29:26.395 --> 00:29:28.978
(gentle music)

578
00:29:31.290 --> 00:29:34.220
With approximately 45,000 sturgeon

579
00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:37.830
in the Lake Winnebago System, another pair of hands

580
00:29:37.830 --> 00:29:39.083
is certainly welcome.

581
00:29:40.570 --> 00:29:42.030
You're gonna help me on the board.

582
00:29:42.030 --> 00:29:44.340
We're gonna measure the fish, so you can be on the tail,

583
00:29:44.340 --> 00:29:45.810
help getting the fish out of the net.

584
00:29:45.810 --> 00:29:47.467
Okay.

585
00:29:47.467 --> 00:29:48.320
Off we go.

586
00:29:48.320 --> 00:29:50.670
We'll see the first one.
Look at this guy.

587
00:29:53.210 --> 00:29:55.477
I'm just taking the fish out, we're measuring them

588
00:29:55.477 --> 00:29:57.160
and seeing if they're male of female,

589
00:29:57.160 --> 00:29:58.510
and we're PIT tagging them.

590
00:29:59.810 --> 00:30:01.101
I think this is a male.

591
00:30:01.101 --> 00:30:03.550
(both laughing)

592
00:30:03.550 --> 00:30:05.670
Okay, 47.

593
00:30:05.670 --> 00:30:06.963
47.1.

594
00:30:09.570 --> 00:30:12.270
I've handled farm ones before, but never wild ones.

595
00:30:12.270 --> 00:30:13.133
They're strong.

596
00:30:14.205 --> 00:30:15.601
(Rory grunts)

597
00:30:15.601 --> 00:30:17.670
(biologists laughing)

598
00:30:17.670 --> 00:30:21.212
They feel like one great, big piece of muscle.

599
00:30:21.212 --> 00:30:23.033
It's pretty tiring work.

600
00:30:23.033 --> 00:30:24.783
But it's good fun, it's worthwhile.

601
00:30:25.637 --> 00:30:28.260
I hope we can do this in the Caspian one day.

602
00:30:28.260 --> 00:30:31.600
Sturgeon have made such a rebound in Wisconsin

603
00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:34.180
that they can now help revive the lakes and rivers

604
00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:38.243
in other states, from which Sturgeon died out decades ago.

605
00:30:39.520 --> 00:30:43.140
One of the main ways to rehabilitate the fish population

606
00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:44.290
is through stocking.

607
00:30:44.290 --> 00:30:45.360
So what we'll be doing today

608
00:30:45.360 --> 00:30:47.970
is we'll be actually collecting eggs and sperm

609
00:30:47.970 --> 00:30:50.700
from some of the fish that we handle today.

610
00:30:50.700 --> 00:30:53.887
Oh, female, look at the eggs coming out, wow.

611
00:30:55.659 --> 00:30:58.363
Roughly how many eggs do the fish like these hold, Ryan?

612
00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.040
Probably the average female in the Winnebago System

613
00:31:02.040 --> 00:31:05.070
has about between 800,000 and a million eggs.

614
00:31:05.070 --> 00:31:06.750
Million eggs?

615
00:31:06.750 --> 00:31:08.220
The sturgeon needs to lay

616
00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:10.230
an enormous amount of eggs,

617
00:31:10.230 --> 00:31:13.130
because the chance of producing offspring in the wild

618
00:31:13.130 --> 00:31:15.280
are incredibly slim.

619
00:31:15.280 --> 00:31:19.570
Just one out of every 50,000 eggs released by the female

620
00:31:19.570 --> 00:31:21.943
will make it past the end of the summer.

621
00:31:23.580 --> 00:31:27.074
Basically caviar right there,

622
00:31:27.074 --> 00:31:29.853
as fresh as you can get, amazing.

623
00:31:31.100 --> 00:31:33.730
For nearly 30 years Richard Klett

624
00:31:33.730 --> 00:31:35.113
has been raising sturgeon.

625
00:31:36.872 --> 00:31:39.530
And we're gonna fertilize each individual group

626
00:31:39.530 --> 00:31:41.490
with the individual male.

627
00:31:41.490 --> 00:31:43.110
Certain groups of eggs are getting fertilized

628
00:31:43.110 --> 00:31:44.950
by different males.
Yeah, yeah, sure.

629
00:31:44.950 --> 00:31:46.460
We'll grab our milt.

630
00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:49.313
Actually, you only need a few little drops in here.

631
00:31:50.890 --> 00:31:52.620
And the sperm really isn't gonna do anything

632
00:31:52.620 --> 00:31:54.810
until we add water.
Oh yeah?

633
00:31:54.810 --> 00:31:56.810
We're kinda replicating what's happening

634
00:31:56.810 --> 00:31:58.610
just behind us in the bay here, right?

635
00:31:58.610 --> 00:32:00.040
Yep, yep.

636
00:32:00.040 --> 00:32:01.567
So after we fertilize these eggs, Richard,

637
00:32:01.567 --> 00:32:04.020
how long do they take to hatch?

638
00:32:04.020 --> 00:32:06.750
Typically, it takes about seven days.

639
00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:08.280
To most people this is caviar.

640
00:32:08.280 --> 00:32:10.520
We have a couple of hundreds of these on a cracker,

641
00:32:10.520 --> 00:32:11.570
and it's caviar.

642
00:32:11.570 --> 00:32:14.710
To us, this little egg is gonna grow into a fish

643
00:32:14.710 --> 00:32:16.730
that's gonna grow for 100 years,

644
00:32:16.730 --> 00:32:18.640
that's gonna swim up and down this river

645
00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:20.550
50 times in its lifetime.

646
00:32:20.550 --> 00:32:23.706
I mean, it's just the most incredible story.

647
00:32:23.706 --> 00:32:24.900
As part of the DNR

648
00:32:24.900 --> 00:32:27.040
sturgeon conservation program,

649
00:32:27.040 --> 00:32:28.850
these fertilized sturgeon eggs

650
00:32:28.850 --> 00:32:31.593
are taken to the nearby Wild Rose Hatchery.

651
00:32:32.770 --> 00:32:35.210
In this giant indoor facility

652
00:32:35.210 --> 00:32:38.130
the next generation of sturgeon are being reared,

653
00:32:38.130 --> 00:32:41.503
and after 12 months they'll be released into the wild.

654
00:32:43.620 --> 00:32:47.950
But sturgeon conservation is a notoriously slow process.

655
00:32:47.950 --> 00:32:50.350
It will take at least 20 years or more

656
00:32:50.350 --> 00:32:54.210
for these juveniles to start producing the next generation

657
00:32:54.210 --> 00:32:56.636
in rivers across the USA.

658
00:32:56.636 --> 00:33:00.303
(dramatic orchestral music)

659
00:33:02.830 --> 00:33:06.010
It's Rory's last day, and he's just about to take

660
00:33:06.010 --> 00:33:07.243
an important call.

661
00:33:08.600 --> 00:33:10.050
So I just had an email last night

662
00:33:10.050 --> 00:33:12.470
from the eDNA lab in the UK

663
00:33:12.470 --> 00:33:14.280
telling me that they've got the results through

664
00:33:14.280 --> 00:33:15.860
from the samples that I took

665
00:33:15.860 --> 00:33:18.110
from the marine protected area in the Caspian

666
00:33:19.221 --> 00:33:20.930
to see if there are any sturgeon present.

667
00:33:20.930 --> 00:33:23.280
So I'm hoping that there's going to be sturgeon there,

668
00:33:23.280 --> 00:33:25.263
but we'll see.

669
00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:28.483
Hey, Kat, it's Rory, how are you?

670
00:33:28.483 --> 00:33:29.800
Hey Rory, I'm great, thanks.

671
00:33:29.800 --> 00:33:34.070
I hear that the eDNA results are in from Azerbaijan.

672
00:33:34.070 --> 00:33:36.580
They are and so yeah,

673
00:33:36.580 --> 00:33:38.730
I'm happy to sort of talk you through them.

674
00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:44.880
So in total, we found 21 species of fish in the few filters.

675
00:33:46.096 --> 00:33:47.240
Wow.

676
00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:49.760
Also 20 species in one filter,

677
00:33:49.760 --> 00:33:53.163
and 10 of those species were found in the second filter.

678
00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:58.439
Sadly, none of them was sturgeon.

679
00:33:58.439 --> 00:33:59.790
Oh no.

680
00:33:59.790 --> 00:34:02.513
It's not the news Rory wanted to hear.

681
00:34:03.390 --> 00:34:06.740
Sorry, I know it's disappointing, but it was a long shot

682
00:34:06.740 --> 00:34:09.273
to find something rare in just two samples.

683
00:34:10.687 --> 00:34:13.287
But it does add weight to his campaign.

684
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:17.860
I think the fact that we didn't pick up trace

685
00:34:17.860 --> 00:34:20.480
of any of these fish just strengthens the argument

686
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:22.453
for protection and restoration.

687
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:28.093
This makes me want to protect these fish even more.

688
00:34:28.093 --> 00:34:31.010
(melancholy music)

689
00:34:35.450 --> 00:34:38.560
In the USA, conservation programs

690
00:34:38.560 --> 00:34:40.773
have helped the sturgeon to fight back.

691
00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:47.470
Rory's aim is to do the same for the sturgeon

692
00:34:47.470 --> 00:34:52.130
in the Caspian Sea by creating a marine protected area,

693
00:34:52.130 --> 00:34:53.373
the first of its kind.

694
00:34:54.760 --> 00:34:56.900
Someone needs to care about the sturgeon, you know.

695
00:34:56.900 --> 00:34:58.760
A lot of people don't know anything about the sturgeon

696
00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:00.790
because they're big, they're slow,

697
00:35:00.790 --> 00:35:02.000
they're old and they're ugly.

698
00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:05.000
And you know, they're very, very hard to see.

699
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:07.950
But these fish are very, very important

700
00:35:07.950 --> 00:35:10.030
for the ecosystems where they live.

701
00:35:10.030 --> 00:35:12.390
They're incredibly important culturally.

702
00:35:12.390 --> 00:35:16.170
And they once were an incredibly important source of protein

703
00:35:16.170 --> 00:35:18.643
for coastal communities in the Caspian.

704
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:22.517
Since the end of World War II

705
00:35:22.517 --> 00:35:25.570
the battle to save the sturgeon in the Caspian

706
00:35:25.570 --> 00:35:28.012
was consistently being lost.

707
00:35:28.012 --> 00:35:31.260
(suspenseful music)

708
00:35:31.260 --> 00:35:35.350
During the 1950s to make up for the devastating impact

709
00:35:35.350 --> 00:35:36.590
that the dam building had

710
00:35:36.590 --> 00:35:40.210
on the sturgeon's ability to spawn, the Soviets began

711
00:35:40.210 --> 00:35:43.650
to build many hatcheries across the Caspian

712
00:35:43.650 --> 00:35:47.100
and released millions of sturgeon into the rivers.

713
00:35:47.100 --> 00:35:50.090
But despite the population's stabilizing,

714
00:35:50.090 --> 00:35:52.553
their habitat continued to degrade.

715
00:35:54.530 --> 00:35:56.190
I mean, the Soviets really

716
00:35:56.190 --> 00:35:58.310
had no environmental sensibility,

717
00:35:58.310 --> 00:36:01.870
and the Soviet Union was enormously polluted.

718
00:36:01.870 --> 00:36:03.820
I mean, they would dump all kinds of things.

719
00:36:03.820 --> 00:36:06.900
Nuclear waste, I mean they were very cavalier

720
00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:08.620
about all source of pollution.

721
00:36:08.620 --> 00:36:13.620
So, the combination of the dams and the factory pollution

722
00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:18.583
really had a tremendous effect on the sturgeon populations.

723
00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:22.490
And then, in 1991

724
00:36:22.490 --> 00:36:24.823
came the breakup of the Soviet Union.

725
00:36:25.700 --> 00:36:28.690
Communism had been hard enough on the sturgeon,

726
00:36:28.690 --> 00:36:31.333
but capitalism would prove far worse.

727
00:36:33.540 --> 00:36:35.480
The dissolution of the Soviet Union

728
00:36:35.480 --> 00:36:39.270
results in collapse of management and control systems

729
00:36:39.270 --> 00:36:41.020
of the fishery industry.

730
00:36:41.020 --> 00:36:44.170
Consequently, criminal groups emerged

731
00:36:44.170 --> 00:36:48.400
to take over the activities regarding caviar trade.

732
00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:51.550
And this resulted in the end in overexploitation

733
00:36:51.550 --> 00:36:53.823
of sturgeon stocks in the '90s.

734
00:36:54.830 --> 00:36:56.290
Everyone became a poacher.

735
00:36:56.290 --> 00:36:58.200
It became a free-for-all.

736
00:36:58.200 --> 00:37:01.760
People went out poaching just to feed their families.

737
00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:04.910
Caviar became also an underground method of payment.

738
00:37:04.910 --> 00:37:07.600
It became a form of bribery.

739
00:37:07.600 --> 00:37:10.820
During this time, it was crazy.

740
00:37:10.820 --> 00:37:13.430
Caviar was everywhere.

741
00:37:13.430 --> 00:37:16.853
Poachers were active on a massive scale.

742
00:37:17.760 --> 00:37:20.620
It was estimated that illegal trade

743
00:37:20.620 --> 00:37:24.223
was around six to 10 times the legitimate trade.

744
00:37:25.370 --> 00:37:29.100
I think that there was also this case with a funeral car

745
00:37:29.100 --> 00:37:32.120
with half ton of caviar being seized

746
00:37:32.120 --> 00:37:34.203
by the officials in Russia.

747
00:37:34.203 --> 00:37:37.010
(boat engine revving)

748
00:37:37.010 --> 00:37:39.740
In the 1990s, Russian authorities

749
00:37:39.740 --> 00:37:41.980
battled with organized crime groups

750
00:37:41.980 --> 00:37:44.920
to put an end to the caviar black market,

751
00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:47.133
which had become increasingly violent.

752
00:37:48.490 --> 00:37:51.040
It's not just a luxury food now.

753
00:37:51.040 --> 00:37:53.023
It's a dangerous product as well.

754
00:37:55.140 --> 00:37:57.480
In 2002, in response

755
00:37:57.480 --> 00:38:00.870
to the high levels of poaching and the illegal trade,

756
00:38:00.870 --> 00:38:03.090
Russia banned the sale of all caviar

757
00:38:03.090 --> 00:38:05.463
produced in their Caspian Sea territory.

758
00:38:06.490 --> 00:38:10.210
Then, in 2014, sturgeon fishing was banned

759
00:38:10.210 --> 00:38:12.623
throughout the entire Caspian Sea.

760
00:38:13.620 --> 00:38:15.480
And now Russia is working

761
00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:19.980
to restore the sturgeon population in the Astrakhan region,

762
00:38:19.980 --> 00:38:23.003
once the caviar capital of the world.

763
00:38:24.820 --> 00:38:27.620
But despite this, poaching in the Caspian

764
00:38:27.620 --> 00:38:29.706
is an ongoing problem.

765
00:38:29.706 --> 00:38:31.170
(waves crashing)

766
00:38:31.170 --> 00:38:33.990
Poaching in the Caspian for sturgeon

767
00:38:33.990 --> 00:38:36.360
has been disastrous for the populations.

768
00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:39.210
It's too easy to catch these fish when they're migrating.

769
00:38:40.220 --> 00:38:42.060
In response to the growing problem

770
00:38:42.060 --> 00:38:45.000
of illegal fishing, Azerbaijan created

771
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:47.310
an anti-poaching task force

772
00:38:47.310 --> 00:38:51.796
to patrol its 500-mile shoreline on the Caspian.

773
00:38:51.796 --> 00:38:56.129
(Ismail speaks in foreign language)

774
00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:08.750
Ismail and his team

775
00:39:08.750 --> 00:39:11.030
have to be prepared for anything.

776
00:39:11.030 --> 00:39:13.423
Poachers here can carry guns.

777
00:39:14.823 --> 00:39:19.323
(Ismail speaks in a foreign language)

778
00:39:34.578 --> 00:39:36.750
(crew member speaks in foreign language)

779
00:39:36.750 --> 00:39:37.930
The crew has spotted

780
00:39:37.930 --> 00:39:40.780
a suspicious fishing boat in the distance.

781
00:39:40.780 --> 00:39:43.310
They have to reach it quickly before the fishermen

782
00:39:43.310 --> 00:39:45.603
can dump their illegal catch overboard.

783
00:39:46.890 --> 00:39:50.703
If they're caught red-handed, this is a serious offense.

784
00:39:54.620 --> 00:39:58.110
There has been a serious decline in all types of fish,

785
00:39:58.110 --> 00:40:00.180
and for some fishermen living in areas

786
00:40:00.180 --> 00:40:02.860
where economic opportunities are slim,

787
00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:06.003
catching a sturgeon is a risk worth taking.

788
00:40:09.104 --> 00:40:13.437
(Ismail speaks in foreign language)

789
00:40:26.894 --> 00:40:28.280
It's clear these fishermen

790
00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:30.930
haven't committed any offense.

791
00:40:30.930 --> 00:40:34.193
Judging by today's catch, there isn't much to celebrate.

792
00:40:35.890 --> 00:40:38.110
Even if they wanted to net a sturgeon,

793
00:40:38.110 --> 00:40:39.713
they'd be lucky to find one.

794
00:40:40.900 --> 00:40:43.980
The sign of the times in the sea whose marine life

795
00:40:43.980 --> 00:40:46.780
has suffered decades of overfishing

796
00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:48.886
and industrial pollution.

797
00:40:48.886 --> 00:40:51.320
(boat engine revving)

798
00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:55.440
We cannot save sturgeon, and we cannot stop poaching

799
00:40:55.440 --> 00:41:00.360
unless there's an alternative for fishing communities.

800
00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:03.620
We need to build industry, we need to educate people,

801
00:41:03.620 --> 00:41:05.890
we need to create awareness.

802
00:41:05.890 --> 00:41:10.560
And there needs to be a viable alternative in rural regions,

803
00:41:10.560 --> 00:41:13.120
otherwise people will always poach these fish,

804
00:41:13.120 --> 00:41:14.220
as long as they exist.

805
00:41:15.061 --> 00:41:18.061
(suspenseful music)

806
00:41:19.790 --> 00:41:22.360
Caviar entrepreneur Rufat Tabasaranskiy

807
00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:24.890
has a plan that could provide a lifeline

808
00:41:24.890 --> 00:41:28.179
for both the sturgeon and the local community.

809
00:41:28.179 --> 00:41:31.179
(suspenseful music)

810
00:41:32.847 --> 00:41:36.264
(Rufat speaking Russian)

811
00:42:08.746 --> 00:42:11.329
(dogs barking)

812
00:42:15.747 --> 00:42:17.244
(Rufat speaking Russian)

813
00:42:17.244 --> 00:42:18.580
Like many in this area,

814
00:42:18.580 --> 00:42:22.629
Yassar is struggling to make ends meet as a fisherman.

815
00:42:22.629 --> 00:42:26.020
(men speaking in Russian)

816
00:42:26.020 --> 00:42:29.228
(Yassar speaks in foreign language)

817
00:42:29.228 --> 00:42:32.728
(men speaking in Russian)

818
00:42:41.855 --> 00:42:44.293
(Yassar speaks in foreign language)

819
00:42:44.293 --> 00:42:47.793
(Rufat speaks in Russian)

820
00:43:09.453 --> 00:43:12.286
(engine whirring)

821
00:43:14.430 --> 00:43:16.960
This vast building site will soon be

822
00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:19.820
a state of the art sturgeon farm.

823
00:43:19.820 --> 00:43:23.330
And it's here where Yassar will join many other locals

824
00:43:23.330 --> 00:43:25.590
to help raise these giant fish

825
00:43:25.590 --> 00:43:27.863
to produce sustainable caviar.

826
00:43:29.790 --> 00:43:32.920
The demand for caviar has never been higher,

827
00:43:32.920 --> 00:43:35.113
and it's set to continue to grow.

828
00:43:36.860 --> 00:43:39.940
Once responsible for the sturgeon's demise,

829
00:43:39.940 --> 00:43:43.970
today it is the caviar industry that could hold the key

830
00:43:43.970 --> 00:43:45.623
to the sturgeon survival.

831
00:43:48.280 --> 00:43:52.610
Aquaculture or fish farming has a bad reputation,

832
00:43:52.610 --> 00:43:53.963
and rightfully so.

833
00:43:54.940 --> 00:43:56.480
People associate aquaculture

834
00:43:56.480 --> 00:43:59.290
with pesticides and antibiotics.

835
00:43:59.290 --> 00:44:02.463
And we haven't done it very well until now.

836
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:06.840
Within just a few months

837
00:44:06.840 --> 00:44:10.173
these giant ponds will be teeming with sturgeon.

838
00:44:13.687 --> 00:44:17.187
(Rufat speaks in Russian)

839
00:44:32.600 --> 00:44:34.760
Not all the sturgeon on this farm

840
00:44:34.760 --> 00:44:36.567
will be harvested for caviar.

841
00:44:37.472 --> 00:44:40.972
(Rufat speaks in Russian)

842
00:44:48.090 --> 00:44:50.250
Returning fingerlings to the sea

843
00:44:50.250 --> 00:44:52.340
certainly can have an impact.

844
00:44:52.340 --> 00:44:54.600
We've seen with sea trouts and salmon

845
00:44:54.600 --> 00:44:58.180
that hatcheries play a major role in conservation.

846
00:44:58.180 --> 00:44:59.330
But we have to ensure

847
00:44:59.330 --> 00:45:01.090
that when we put these fingerlings back,

848
00:45:01.090 --> 00:45:03.400
that they're genetically strong,

849
00:45:03.400 --> 00:45:05.833
and they're able to survive in the wild.

850
00:45:07.580 --> 00:45:09.310
Unlike wild caught fish,

851
00:45:09.310 --> 00:45:11.870
which have a much larger gene pool,

852
00:45:11.870 --> 00:45:15.710
farmed fish can come from a limited genetic stock.

853
00:45:15.710 --> 00:45:18.030
If the genetics aren't diverse enough,

854
00:45:18.030 --> 00:45:21.550
releasing them into the wild could cause major problems,

855
00:45:21.550 --> 00:45:25.353
as any interbreeding might lead to a weakened genetic line.

856
00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:30.190
By turning poachers into gamekeepers

857
00:45:30.190 --> 00:45:31.720
and restocking the Caspian

858
00:45:31.720 --> 00:45:34.860
by releasing hundreds of young fish every year,

859
00:45:34.860 --> 00:45:37.580
people like Rufat are showing that conservation

860
00:45:37.580 --> 00:45:40.333
and aquaculture can work together.

861
00:45:43.050 --> 00:45:46.550
(Rufat speaks in Russian)

862
00:46:06.263 --> 00:46:08.350
I think that if people learned

863
00:46:08.350 --> 00:46:12.730
about the story of the sturgeon, how much of an effort it is

864
00:46:12.730 --> 00:46:17.610
for this great female fish to swim through the Caspian Sea,

865
00:46:17.610 --> 00:46:20.460
to swim 500 kilometers up the Kura River,

866
00:46:20.460 --> 00:46:24.000
and lay her eggs, then to swim back

867
00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:27.023
past the maze of gill nets into the sea,

868
00:46:28.350 --> 00:46:31.450
I don't think people would want to eat wild caviar.

869
00:46:31.450 --> 00:46:33.260
(birds calling)

870
00:46:33.260 --> 00:46:34.850
Nearly three billion people

871
00:46:34.850 --> 00:46:36.583
depend on the ocean for food.

872
00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:40.070
We already take more fish from the ocean

873
00:46:40.070 --> 00:46:42.463
than it can naturally replace.

874
00:46:43.800 --> 00:46:46.490
But although nearly half of the seafood we eat

875
00:46:46.490 --> 00:46:50.080
comes from farms, over 1/3 of fish caught

876
00:46:50.080 --> 00:46:53.333
is converted into fish meal to feed farmed fish.

877
00:46:55.490 --> 00:46:58.330
This is putting great pressure on the oceans

878
00:46:58.330 --> 00:47:00.612
and contributing to their decline.

879
00:47:00.612 --> 00:47:03.550
(suspenseful music)

880
00:47:03.550 --> 00:47:06.030
For every kilogram of farmed fish,

881
00:47:06.030 --> 00:47:09.200
farmers use the same weight in wild caught fish

882
00:47:09.200 --> 00:47:11.193
such as anchovies or mackerel.

883
00:47:14.400 --> 00:47:18.220
Another major ingredient for fish feed is soy.

884
00:47:18.220 --> 00:47:23.042
Huge demand for this crop has led to massive deforestation.

885
00:47:23.042 --> 00:47:25.792
(dramatic music)

886
00:47:27.209 --> 00:47:30.420
At the same time demand for fish around the world

887
00:47:30.420 --> 00:47:32.100
has been soaring.

888
00:47:32.100 --> 00:47:37.100
The end result, empty oceans and destroyed ecosystems.

889
00:47:37.327 --> 00:47:39.910
(gentle music)

890
00:47:42.220 --> 00:47:45.860
As concerns about our oceans and food supply grow,

891
00:47:45.860 --> 00:47:48.210
people are rising up to the challenge

892
00:47:48.210 --> 00:47:49.933
in the search for solutions.

893
00:47:54.420 --> 00:47:56.020
In the heart of the Netherlands

894
00:47:56.020 --> 00:47:59.240
known for being the Silicon Valley of agriculture,

895
00:47:59.240 --> 00:48:00.560
researchers have come up

896
00:48:00.560 --> 00:48:03.513
with a groundbreaking way to feed fish.

897
00:48:05.985 --> 00:48:06.890
(insects buzzing)

898
00:48:06.890 --> 00:48:10.563
This is the largest insect farm in the world.

899
00:48:12.665 --> 00:48:14.560
They're being bred to help tackle

900
00:48:14.560 --> 00:48:16.513
the rising global food problem.

901
00:48:18.620 --> 00:48:22.560
Insects are really packed with valuable nutrients

902
00:48:22.560 --> 00:48:25.833
that include proteins, but also fats that the fish require.

903
00:48:26.940 --> 00:48:29.080
Because of the high protein value,

904
00:48:29.080 --> 00:48:32.683
insects can easily replace the proteins in fish feed.

905
00:48:33.520 --> 00:48:37.050
The insects can be fed with fruit and vegetable waste,

906
00:48:37.050 --> 00:48:39.680
which makes them the ideal sustainable

907
00:48:39.680 --> 00:48:42.710
and natural ingredient for fish feed.

908
00:48:42.710 --> 00:48:45.260
So in essence insects can help the oceans

909
00:48:45.260 --> 00:48:48.740
by being a very good replacer for the proteins

910
00:48:48.740 --> 00:48:51.303
that people at this moment get from the oceans.

911
00:48:53.620 --> 00:48:57.200
So far, insect feed has been trialed on salmon,

912
00:48:57.200 --> 00:48:59.890
and the results have been successful.

913
00:48:59.890 --> 00:49:03.010
Trials for feeding sturgeon have just started,

914
00:49:03.010 --> 00:49:06.030
and this could pave the way for many other fish farms

915
00:49:06.030 --> 00:49:07.023
around the globe.

916
00:49:08.800 --> 00:49:11.430
We need to change the way aquaculture

917
00:49:11.430 --> 00:49:14.870
is being executed today.

918
00:49:14.870 --> 00:49:18.220
If we don't, then we will deplete our resources,

919
00:49:18.220 --> 00:49:20.290
in particular in the oceans more and more.

920
00:49:20.290 --> 00:49:24.743
And it will result in extinction of many species.

921
00:49:26.930 --> 00:49:29.830
By changing the food that our food eats,

922
00:49:29.830 --> 00:49:32.580
not only can we help preserve marine life,

923
00:49:32.580 --> 00:49:35.460
but also meet the nutritional needs of a world

924
00:49:35.460 --> 00:49:39.510
whose population is set to hit 10 billion by 2050.

925
00:49:40.892 --> 00:49:43.642
(dramatic music)

926
00:49:46.304 --> 00:49:49.540
(traffic roaring)

927
00:49:49.540 --> 00:49:51.920
Here we are now, it's been a very difficult project,

928
00:49:51.920 --> 00:49:53.040
and as we all know.

929
00:49:53.040 --> 00:49:56.730
Following years of fieldwork and investigation,

930
00:49:56.730 --> 00:49:59.100
Rory's pleas have been heard.

931
00:49:59.100 --> 00:50:00.600
And it's decision time.

932
00:50:00.600 --> 00:50:01.880
Great task indeed.

933
00:50:01.880 --> 00:50:03.680
I think the take-home message from me

934
00:50:03.680 --> 00:50:06.360
is that we mustn't lose hope,

935
00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:09.670
we must keep trying, we must keep doing scientific research.

936
00:50:09.670 --> 00:50:11.263
And we must keep working with local communities,

937
00:50:11.263 --> 00:50:14.810
because we don't have any choice, but to save these fish.

938
00:50:14.810 --> 00:50:16.242
Okay, thank you very much.

939
00:50:16.242 --> 00:50:19.630
(people applauding)

940
00:50:19.630 --> 00:50:23.600
I hope I showed people that a marine protected area

941
00:50:23.600 --> 00:50:27.960
in Azerbaijan will restore populations of sturgeon.

942
00:50:27.960 --> 00:50:30.753
And I just hope that it happens soon.

943
00:50:32.640 --> 00:50:36.330
It's now or never for this legendary fish,

944
00:50:36.330 --> 00:50:39.883
which has been around since the time of the dinosaurs.

945
00:50:40.947 --> 00:50:43.864
(melancholy music)

946
00:50:54.113 --> 00:50:57.300
(dramatic music)

947
00:50:57.300 --> 00:51:01.863
It's the dawn of a new era for the Caspian sturgeon.

948
00:51:04.040 --> 00:51:05.770
I've always had a dream that sturgeon

949
00:51:05.770 --> 00:51:08.311
could make a comeback in the Caspian.

950
00:51:08.311 --> 00:51:09.980
(dramatic music)
(birds chirping)

951
00:51:09.980 --> 00:51:11.420
With the marine protected area,

952
00:51:11.420 --> 00:51:13.240
we've got a real chance at that.

953
00:51:14.300 --> 00:51:17.203
It's gonna take some time, and it'll take some investment,

954
00:51:18.220 --> 00:51:20.450
but I'm confident that in a generation

955
00:51:20.450 --> 00:51:22.800
we'll be seeing more of these prehistoric fish.

956
00:51:24.570 --> 00:51:26.840
This is what we're here to do, right?

957
00:51:26.840 --> 00:51:30.293
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)

958
00:51:30.293 --> 00:51:33.212
(water splashing)

959
00:51:33.212 --> 00:51:35.795
(gentle music)