Data underlying the publication: The conservation paradox of critically endangered fish species: trading alien sturgeons versus native sturgeon reintroduction in the Rhine-Meuse river delta

This dataset has data on the industry of sturgeon aquaculture and the occurrences of alien sturgeons in garden ponds and angling ponds and hydrologically connected waters in the Rhine-Meuse river delta. The incentive of this study was a reintroduction of the native and critically endangered European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio).

By analysing the data we found the spread of alien sturgeons in cultivation and natural waters to be unexpectedly high, which poses risks (diseases and parasites, hybridisation, predation and competition) to their novel environment and its native biodiversity. Date Submitted: 2022-07-25