Thousands of Atlantic sturgeon, a prehistoric fish that vanished from European waters decades ago, are being released into Sweden's Göta River as part of a bold rewilding project, Discover Wildlife reported.
Atlantic sturgeon once populated rivers across Northern Europe. By the middle of the 20th century, a mix of overfishing, dam construction, and degraded rivers had driven them to extinction on the continent. A team led by Linnéa Jägrud, a scientist with the Swedish Anglers Association, and biologist Dan Calderon is now working to return them to the Göta.
The effort picked up steam after Calderon spent years searching for proof that the Göta had once been a spawning ground. In 2016, three young specimens pulled from the Göta during the 1800s turned up in storage at the Gothenburg Museum of Natural History.
Because juvenile sturgeon cannot live in the ocean, their presence in the river meant they had to have hatched there.
One hundred 10-month-old fish entered the Göta in 2024, with 140 more and about 2,000 fry, or young fish, following in 2025. They came from a breeding program in Northern Germany, and the team eventually hopes to put 5,000-10,000 juveniles into the Göta each year.
"Sturgeon — alongside all other wildlife species — are part of a future where nature and people thrive together, so let's do all we can to bring them back," Jägrud told Discover Wildlife.
This is encouraging news for healthy waterways, as sturgeon contribute to keeping river ecosystems in good shape. Scientists monitoring the released fish can pinpoint which stretches of the Göta could use more work. Jägrud hopes the project will become a model for sturgeon recovery across Europe.
"I was nervous, relieved, and elated all at the same time — I actually had goosebumps," she said. "One of my ancestors worked as a soldier in the Bohus Fortress in the 1600s.
"When he stood on the walls and looked down on the Göta flowing below, there would have been Atlantic sturgeon swimming in the water. Knowing that I'd played a role in bringing this majestic fish back to the same river — which was the culmination of collective efforts over many, many years — was very special."
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