Sturgeon may finally get some respect;

[Spiel]

Sturgeon may finally get some respect;

Federal government looking at protecting species

 

Doug Edgar / February 16, 2008

Owen Sound Sun Times

 

You'll probably never see a starlet tearfully hugging a baby sturgeon.

 

After all, it's a fish with a tube for lips and a hide covered in bony plates and tooth-like protrusions. It has cartilage instead of bones for a skeleton and can grow to hundreds of pounds over a lifetime that can easily surpass 150 years.

 

Its ancestors were sucking little organisms off the bottom during the Devonian period, a time between 420 and 360 million years ago when some other fish were just starting to stump their way onto land.

 

But the lake sturgeon was dealt a hard blow between about 150 and 100 years ago, when it was killed as a net-wrecking pest, then as a source of food. In some areas, sturgeon were dried out and their oily bodies were burned to power steam boilers on boats.

 

Now the federal government, through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, is considering whether or not the lake sturgeon should be protected under the Species At Risk Act. They want to hear from people one way or the other.

 

"They're magnificent fish," said Fred Hnytka, a DFO species at risk biologist based in Winnipeg.

 

The Ontario angling record for lake sturgeon, according to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, is for a Georgian Bay fish caught by Toronto's Edward Paszkowski at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River in May 1982. It weighed 168 pounds, was 69 inches long and 42 inches in girth.

 

That's less that half the size of one Hnytka has information about. Some kids cornered one in the shallows of a small river south of Winnipeg in 1903, killed it with an axe and hauled it out of the water with a team of horses, he said. It was weighed at some grain elevator scales.

 

"I think it weighed in at 402 pounds," he said. "It's the biggest sturgeon I've seen in Canada for fresh water anyway."

 

Lake sturgeon in Georgian Bay and Lake Huron fall into the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence population, which is being considered for protection as threatened. If the Lakes population is listed, it would be illegal to catch, kill or harm a lake sturgeon here, he said, although certain exceptions might be allowed for accidental catches, research and due to native cultural significance. DFO would also have to come up with a recovery strategy for the Great Lakes population within two years. That could affect rivers where the fish spawn and activities including boating and fishing, Hnytka said, but that part of the process is a long way down the road.

 

"We don't want to speculate on what's going to happen. When we do that we're almost always wrong anyway," he said.

 

Part of the reason for getting public opinion about possible protection of the species is to allow officials to figure out what impact such protection might have on people.

 

"I really do want to hear from the people out there," Hnytka said. "They have tremendous insight."

 

They've already had feedback from across the country - the Great Lakes population is just one of eight under consideration for varying levels of protection - with most early submissions in favour of protection.

 

Sturgeon may not be a sought-after sports fish, but there's now a one-fish catch and possession limit for holders of a regular fishing licence in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron and in Fisheries Zone 16, which includes Grey and Bruce counties.

 

Sturgeon live slow and long. They first spawn when they are 20 to 25 years old and after that only reproduce every three to five years, Hnytka said. They spawn in riffles and rapids in rivers and what they lack in frequency they try to make up for in volume, with females able to produce up to a million eggs.

 

"The problem with a lake sturgeon fishery is that these things don't reproduce that quickly and once you reduce the population they're very slow to come back," Hnytka said.

 

While commercial fishing might have been a problem in the past, dams that block river access and flood out riffles and rapids are among the things hurting sturgeon now, Hnytka said.

 

The deadline for submissions about protecting the sturgeon is April 25. There's lots of information about the process and the species at www.sararegistry.gc.ca - there's a search box where you can type in lake sturgeon, as well as links to a form to fill out. Comments can also be e-mailed to [email protected] or called in to 1-866-538-1609.

[mrymar]

"Fred Hnytka, a DFO species at risk biologist based in Winnipeg."

 

So some Federal guy from Winnipeg is going to rules over this? Why not let OMNR manage their own fishery?

 

Lake Sturgeon have a large population in the St Clair River. I fish for them in September. I strickly fish them catch and release.

 

I think it would be a shame to not allow anglers to enjoy this fishery. Ontario could put into place more strict rules, but to have th feds ban fishing for them would be wrong.

 

In Michigan, I personally know the biologist are keeping a close eye on the St. Clair River fishery. In Michigan, anglers are required to get a tag (like deer hunting) before they are allowed to target Sturgeon. Anglers are only allowed 1 tag a season. Most guys I know get their tag, and then never keep a fish. Also, the large spawners are protected by a slot limit. A tag is only good for a 40-50" fish. Our Michigan DNR believes that only 20% of the entire population fall into the slot limit, so that means that the other 80% of the fish that do not fall into the slot limit are protected.