By Matt Weiser -- Bee Staff Writer
Friday, March 3, 2006
State officials on Thursday adopted emergency limits on sturgeon fishing to protect the giant fish during what may be an all-time low in its population.
Meeting in Riverside, the state Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to ban harvest of green sturgeon. It also reduced the size limit for white sturgeon, ruling that anglers may keep only those fish between 46 and 56 inches long.
Both changes apply throughout the sturgeon's range, from San Francisco Bay to upstream areas on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
"We're doing what we think is prudent at this stage, which is managing them protectively when they're at a low ebb in their abundance," said Marty Gingras, a supervising biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.
California sturgeon are a massive native fish, known to reach up to 2,000 pounds and 20 feet long. They are also one of the oldest fish species in existence. Like salmon, they spend much of their lives in the ocean and return to freshwater rivers to spawn.
But sturgeon are erratic spawners. They can live for up to 100 years, but begin spawning only after reaching 10 to 15 years old, and then only every two to five years.
White sturgeon, the larger of the varieties, are coveted for their tasty flesh. Both are prized for their eggs, which can be made into caviar.
Current regulations allow anglers to keep sturgeon between 46 and 72 inches long. In this range, the department estimates there may be as few as 10,000 white sturgeon in existence, and fewer than 2,000 are spawning-age females. For green sturgeon, there may be fewer than 50 females of spawning age.
This is down from a peak of 144,000 legal-size white sturgeon in 1998.
The decline follows that of four other fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta over the past year: striped bass, Delta smelt, threadfin shad and longfin smelt.
As a result, Fish and Game felt obliged to move quickly to protect sturgeon, said spokesman Steve Martarano.
"We feel we'll be OK if we can keep this year's spawners in the water," he said.
No one is sure what is causing sturgeon to decline, but it is likely a combination of poor spawning success and environmental problems. Caviar poachers have also had a role.
Martarano said the new catch limits are likely to take effect by March 17, after a legal review, and remain in effect for 120 days. This will cover most of the spawning season.
The new rules do not restrict catch-and-release fishing.
In December, the department will present a plan for permanent changes in sturgeon rules.
Bob Boucke, owner of Johnson's Bait and Tackle in Yuba City, supports changes in the sturgeon catch. But he thinks the new size limit is too narrow.
"It'll reduce the number of fish caught by a dramatic amount, which is a good thing," Boucke said. "But I'm sure it's going to hurt the tackle stores and the bait shops and everything else, because it's going to cut back a lot of people from fishing."
About the writer: The Bee's Matt Weiser can be reached at (916) 321-1264 or mweiser@sacbee.com.
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