Background According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), sturgeons are the most threatened fish species worldwide. Of the five surviving sturgeon species in the Danube basin, the IUCN Red List categorises four as “critically endangered” and one as “vulnerable”. Population trends for all five are decreasing. Within the EU, the lower Danube and north-western Black Sea area is the only region still holding viable, naturally-reproducing sturgeon populations. Overexploitation is the main direct threat to Danube sturgeons. Except for the sterlet in Serbia, national fishing bans for all sturgeon species are in place in all lower Danube and Black Sea countries, and trade in caviar from wild sturgeons is forbidden. The financial losses experienced by fishing communities affected by these bans contributes to illegal fishing of the depleted sturgeon stocks. It is imperative that alternative sources of income for these communities can be found. LIFE FOR DANUBE STURGEONS builds on the work in Bulgaria and Romania of an earlier LIFE project (LIFE11 INF/AT/000902), which created a network of sturgeon advocates. Objectives The overall objective of the LIFE FOR DANUBE STURGEONS project is the survival and recovery of sturgeons in the entire lower Danube region and their long-term protection against illegal fishing and trade. It aims to contribute to halting and reversing Danube sturgeon losses throughout the species’ range. In so doing, the project will contribute to meeting the goals of Priority Area 6 (Biodiversity and Landscape Diversity) of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, as well as to three of the goals of the Sturgeon 2020 programme (capacity-building and law enforcement, socioeconomic measures in support of sturgeon conservation, and raising public awareness). The project will focus on determining the needs of the most crucial target groups to achieve a consolidated and enduring improvement for Danube sturgeons throughout their range, including parts of Serbia and Ukraine. An evidence-based impact evaluation tool will be applied to rate levels of commitment/awareness and responsibility of the three main target groups and determine whether there has been a change in attitude and engagement. Specific objectives by 2020: Increase the capacity of authorities to enforce laws banning illegal sturgeon fishing and trade; Increase acceptance of the need for a ban amongst fishing communities in the lower Danube; Increase acceptance of and willingness to find alternative income sources amongst these fishing communities; and Increase retailers’ awareness of the ban and the need for its enforcement. Expected results: The project expects to achieve the following results: Development of improved norms and procedures for law enforcement; Training of more than 150 law enforcement officials to police sturgeon crime and act as multipliers in their agencies, supported by factsheets and training videos; Establishment of a pilot alert system in Romania to report sturgeon crime, with at least 12 cases reported. Other participating countries will begin developing similar systems; Recruitment of 30 volunteer “sturgeon watchers” in Romania to support enforcement agencies in protecting spawning sturgeons; Intensification and expansion of the existing sturgeon advocate network to encompass Ukraine, Serbia and the Black Sea coast. To this end, more than 1 000 personal meetings will be held in 15 fishing villages; 20 fishermen will take part in a demonstration sturgeon research and conservation action in Bulgaria. This will give them a sense of responsibility for sturgeon protection and the skills necessary to be paid for monitoring sturgeon stocks; Assessment of alternative income sources in key fishing communities in the project region. Six business plans will be proposed and one pilot business established; A survey of the domestic sturgeon meat and caviar markets will be conducted in the four participating countries, including genetic and isotope analysis of at least 100 samples. Results of the survey, which will reveal the extent of illegal fishing, will be presented to enforcement officials; and At least 200 organisations in the fish supply chain (wholesale markets, shops, restaurants and street vendors) will be informed about relevant legal requirements to protect sturgeons.