11.Juuni 2025

Jõepärlikarpide lasteaed rajati teisel katsel

The Freshwater Pearl Mussel Nursery Was Established on the Second Attempt

Jõepärlikarbid on väga vanad loomad. Nad elavad üle saja aasta ja . Eestis on neid leitud ainult ühest Lahemaa rahvuspargi jõest. Praegu on seal umbes 25 000 pärlikarpi, kuid enamik neist on üle 40 aasta vanad.

Et aidata pärlikarpe ellu jääda, on . Lisaks kasvatatakse tehiskeskkonnas lõhelisi, kelle küljes pärlikarpide lapsed esimesed üheksa kuud elavad. Enne jõkke laskmist kasvatatakse pärlikarbid inimese abiga piisavalt suureks.

Pärlikarbid elavad esimesed kuud lõheliste lõpustel. RMK ekspert Katrin Kaldma ütleb, et pärlikarbid saavad jõkke tagasi minna, kui nad on viis aastat vanad või poolteist sentimeetrit suured. Kui nad korjatakse, on nad väga väikesed – alla poole millimeetri. Esimeseks talveks kasvatatakse nad ühe millimeetri suuruseks ja järgmistel aastatel 10-15 millimeetri suuruseks. 15 millimeetrit on piisav suurus .

Viis aastat tehti pärlikarpidega tööd RMK Põlula kalakasvatuses. See asub kaugel nende kodujõest. Töö tõhustamiseks avati jõe lähedal uus kasvatusjaam ehk . Jaama ehitamine maksis 700 000 eurot. See rajati teisel katsel, sest esimesel korral oli pakkumine liiga kallis.

Uus jaam võimaldab kasvatada rohkem noori pärlikarpe. Praegu viiakse suureks kasvatatud pärlikarbid jõkke spetsiaalsetel plaatidel. Tulevikus lastakse osa pärlikarpidest vabalt vette elama.

Pärlikarpide kasvatajad soovivad, et nende nime eest kaoks ära sõna 'eba'. Ajalooliselt on nende nimi pärlikarp. Loodetakse, et aitab kaasa ka liigi hea nime taastamisele.

Kasvatusjaama abil peaks viie aasta pärast Lahemaal elama vähemalt 50 000 elujõulist jõepärlikarpi.

Freshwater pearl mussels are very old animals. They live over a hundred years and purify water. In Estonia, they have been found only in one river in Lahemaa National Park. Currently, there are about 25,000 mussels, but most of them are over 40 years old.

To help the mussels survive, the riverbed has been cleaned. Additionally, salmon are bred in an artificial environment, on which the mussel larvae live for the first nine months. Before being released into the river, the mussels are grown large enough with human assistance.

The mussels live the first months on the gills of salmon. RMK expert Katrin Kaldma says that the mussels can return to the river when they are five years old or one and a half centimeters in size. When they are collected, they are very small — less than half a millimeter. For the first winter, they are grown to one millimeter in size, and in the following years to 10-15 millimeters. 15 millimeters is a sufficient size for independent life.

For five years, work with the mussels was carried out at the RMK Põlula fish farm. It is located far from their home river. To improve the work, a new breeding station, or mussel nursery, was opened near the river. The construction of the station cost 700,000 euros. It was established on the second attempt because the first offer was too expensive.

The new station allows for the breeding of more young mussels. Currently, the grown mussels are released into the river on special plates. In the future, some of the mussels will be released freely into the water.

The mussel breeders wish for the word 'false' to disappear from their name. Historically, their name is pearl mussel. It is hoped that the restoration of the population will also contribute to the restoration of the species' good name.

With the help of the breeding station, there should be at least 50,000 viable freshwater pearl mussels living in Lahemaa in five years.