If the European sturgeon is to be saved, the population of the species must be strengthened through alevins obtained from farm-bred fish.  Apart from the interest of conserving this species from the point of view of genetic heritage, the conservation of a stock of individuals from assisted reproduction remains, in effect, the main hope for the future restoration of the species through the increased numbers of the current population and the creation of new populations in other basins than the Gironde.  In all likelihood, this ex situ stock might even be considered as the only hope of avoiding the total disappearance of the species.

Currently the stock is kept at two sites (at Cemagref near to Bordeaux in France and at the IGB in Berlin, Germany).  It is composed of individual specimens from the wild, caught in the estuary, and individuals obtained from artificial reproduction, all aged about 10 years.   The aim is, through regular restocking programmes,  to reinstall populations that are sufficiently viable and vigorous to resist the pressure of controlled fishing , at least during one generation. 

Several stages have been identified before the release of alevins in the natural environment:

- the acclimatisation and ex situ conservation of fish from the natural milieu
- reproduction in captivity
- breeding larvae and alevins from captive reproduction