Paddlefish ( Polyodon spathula ) in Europe: An aquaculture species and a potential invader

Abstract

Summary The paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) was first introduced to Europe in 1974, mainly due to its potential for rearing in natural polyculture ponds and large temperate reservoirs. The information on the history of paddlefish aquaculture efforts in Europe is scarce, as well as data on current paddlefish aquaculture status and trends. In addition, there is a lack of data on its presence and potential establishment in the wild, while its invasive potential and associated risks and impacts are largely unknown. In order to evaluate its current status in Europe, we conducted a survey among scientists, aquaculture producers and other stakeholders, and reviewed literature and data on the Internet. Based on the results obtained, we discuss the potential and the challenges in European paddlefish aquaculture development, and analyze paddlefish invasive potential and risks associated with its naturalization. Paddlefish aquaculture is well established only regionally in Europe, but offers relatively high potential for further development in pond farms. Nevertheless, future development will require careful planning, especially regarding market development and improved marketing strategies. While paddlefish likely represents a low‐risk invader, improved control and reporting on trade and intentional and unintentional releases will be required. Given the lack of knowledge on potential impacts following its introduction, due caution seems highly advisable.

Sturgeon meat and caviar production: Global update 2017

“…This survey focuses on the production of the family Acipenseridae, deliberately excluding paddlefish (Polyodontidae), since it is not included in the Codex Alimentarius as a species producing sturgeon caviar. An overview on Paddlefish in aquaculture and its introductions can be found in Jarić et al (2018).…”

First observations of intersex development in paddlefish Polyodon spathula

“…In paddlefish aquaculture, chromosomal manipulation to produce females (for caviar production) has been successful using external and chemical stimuli (Mims and Shelton, 1998; Shelton et al ., 2019). Aquaculture of paddlefish in the U.S. is utilized for restoration (Schwinghamer et al ., 2019) and commercial (Shelton et al ., 2019) ends, whereas paddlefish aquaculture abroad in Europe (Jarić et al ., 2019) is purely for commercial caviar and food production, and production in China additionally supplies the aquarium trade (Ji and Li, 2019).…”

Comparative assessment of the seasonal breeding patterns of the paddlefish Polyodon spathula (Walbaum, 1792) and the impact of growth tendency during winter and summer feeding

“…In contrast, the season of 2018 active age groups to express a non-steady rate of growth performance, although that performance is useless. In this context, with low diversity between four-season patterns (summer-winter) as an interpretation to answer critical problems behind production tendency forward stability according to (Jarić et al, 2019), because of low significance of paddlefish growth performance along seasonal periodically under aquaculture production in south Russian territories especially Delta-Volga river.…”

“…The paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) was first introduced in Russian Federation (formerly by the Soviet Union) in 1974, primarily because of its rearing potential in natural organic fertilizer ponds and large southerly reservoirs (Jarić et al, 2019). Paddlefish were also cultivated for roe production along the Russian Volga Delta and meat production to consuming size; particularly, Krasnodar, Volga-Caspian basin, and Saratov (Lobchenko et al, 2002).…”

“…In Russian Federation survey indicated fluctuation in the future paddlefish production trends. Therefore, production was foretelling to stay stable, with an annual growth potential of 5% -10%, and the Maintaining domestic market open to more substantial quantities (Jarić et al, 2019). There are many uncertainty opinions about over seasonal depth act in an additive, oppositional, or potentially powerful sense.…”