It is a fact that, given adequate food, sturgeon will grow faster and healthier.
Common practice today is the removal of nutrients from the sea that come in the form of migratory fish — fish that spawn in fresh water and grow in salt water: salmon, steelhead and shad.
It’s also a fact that the sea lion scourge and commercial fishing have severely impacted the sturgeon population, along with the big dams and excessive bag limits for sports. Many sport fishermen move to the pools above the big dams during the winter months where they catch malnourished sturgeon with big heads and skinny bodies — “snakes” is the term used.
Feeding sturgeon during the winter and end of winter, when migratory fish movement is low, could make a healthier population.
Many hatcheries have excess returns that are sold to the highest bidder, given to tribes and food banks, leaving little for sturgeon. Instead of being commercialized, some could be set aside frozen for sturgeon and dumped off power houses, starting at Bonneville Dam.
We feed salmon and steelhead when they’re young in hatcheries and in streams — why not sturgeon also?
