Nechako White Sturgeon - Endangered

Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative (NWSRI)
Dwelling in deep pools of the Nechako River is a survivor from the age of the dinosaurs - the Nechako white sturgeon. This mysterious creature is the largest freshwater fish in Canada, and has existed relatively unchanged for millions of years – surviving volcanic eruptions, ice ages and climatic upheavals. But the Nechako white sturgeon is now swimming in a current of change that is taking it to the very brink of extinction. It is ranked as Critically Imperiled by the British Columbia Conservation Data Centre and is an Endangered Species according to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
In the last 50 years, the Nechako white sturgeon population has dropped from what some scientists believe was a minimum of 5000 fish to less than 600. And the vast majority of those fish are more than 30 years old. The lack of younger fish means that sturgeon are either not reproducing successfully or that the young are not surviving to adulthood. As sturgeon do not begin spawning until they are 15 to 30 years old, the lack of young sturgeon in the Nechako means that an entire generation is already missing. (An exerpt from the Recovery Website http://www.nechakowhitesturgeon.org/sturgeon/).

As part of the recovery initiative, the local school district works with Fisheries to involve kids of all ages in this process. Earlier this year, a mother sturgeon was caught and since sturgeon spawn only once in a 2-6 year period, they (Fisheries) took full advantage. 5000 juveniles were raised and released into the Nechako River on Oct. 3/4 here in Vanderhoof. My girls each got to number, name & release a sturgeon of their own into the river. It was so cool!



So here go "Squirmy" & "Jackie" to grow into full sized sturgeons! Which by the way are a HUGE fish. Largest ever recorded was 1500lbs. And something over 15 feet long.. YIKES. They are very cool, and very prehistoric.