in partnership with
The race against time
of Alex Găvan and his team to save the Asprete, the rarest fish in Europe
and probably in the whole world, is ongoing.
Alex Găvan, Sebastian Mastahac, Andrei Togor, Marcus Drimbea | Alex Găvan Foundation
About the Asprete - Romanichthys valsanicola
First ever footage of the Asprete in the wild
Andrei Togor, Marcus Drimbea | Alex Găvan Foundation
A living fossil by some estimates aged over 65 million years,
the Asprete might have been contemporary with the last of the dinosaurs to have walked on this earth.
Right now, there are only between 10 to 15 of its kind remaining, according to the last official estimates of the Ministry of Environment
About The River
To date, the asprete's habitat has shrunk
to a time capsule of only around 5 km along the river of Vâlsan, in the Transylvanian Alps of Romania – the Făgăraș Mountains. The river has its source under Moldoveanu – 2544m, the highest peak in the country.
When in 1956, the Asprete was discovered by Nicolae Stoica, a student of biology, he was still roaming the waters of two other rivers, Argeș and Doamnei. He is now completely extinct out of those two.
The whole area where Asprete lives or used to live is under two forms of legal protection: a Nature 2000 site – ROSCI0268 Valea Vâlsanului and Valea Vâlsanului Nature Reserve – code 2125.
Silviu Matei | Alex Găvan Foundation
Home of the Asprete - Argeș County, Romania
Nature 2000 site ROSCI0122 Făgăraș Mountains
Vâlsan Valey Natural Reserve - code 2125
Nature 2000 site ROSCI0268 Vâlsan Valey
A leading Romanian high altitude climber and noted conservationist, Alex Găvan is a local of the Vâlsan Valley. He spent his childhood on the river's banks, grew up with Asprete stories, and learned how to swim by himself in the very same Asprete waters.
Alex Găvan
"My beloved,
we are at the steering wheel of the most boundless and priceless of the ships possible:
Our Life.
Let’s make it count."
Alex Găvan