a 200LB Lake Sturgeon!

[oceansbreeze]

Geez, check out this story and photo in my local paper .... was caught Friday by MNR, tagged and released..... over 2 metres long, and over 100 years old...<br /><br />Makes you think about what else is REALLY in our local lakes (or oceans) if you go deep enough...<br /><br /> http://www.nugget.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=110236&catname=Local+News <br /><br /><br />(I'll add story here, just in case the link gets removed or the Nugget changes it - note mention of Beluga Sturgeon, almost 1300LB and 8.4M long)<br /><br />Monster netted near Lake Nipissing - Chapman Chutes <br /><br />Arnie Hakala <br />Local News - Friday, May 20, 2005 @ 08:00 <br /><br />A ripe female sturgeon that was two metres long and more than 100 years old was caught Wednesday at the Chapman Chutes of the South River which empties into Lake Nipissing. <br /><br />“We estimate its weight around 200 pounds,” said Richard Rowe, a biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources. “She was still full of eggs.” <br /><br />The sturgeon is one of the oldest species of fish in the world, dating back to the Jurassic Period, said Rowe. At one time, its main predators were dinosaurs. <br /><br />“The female spawns every five years and the males every two years. The females don’t reach maturity until they are 14 or 16 years old. <br />” <br /><br />Studies are being conducted on the Lake Nipissing sturgeon which supported a thriving commercial fishery until their numbers crashed from over fishing. They are now protected. <br /><br />The sturgeon have been spawning at the chutes and in the Sturgeon River. <br /><br />“We’ve had reports of spawning grounds on the Little Sturgeon River and shoals in the lake but we don’t have any verification,” Rowe said. <br /><br />The sturgeon spawns until mid June. It is a bottom feeder with a vacuum-type mouth. Small invertebrates comprise most of their diet. <br /><br />There are several species of the prehistoric fish. One, the beluga sturgeon, has weighed up to 1,260 pounds and was 8.4 metres long. <br /><br />Many sturgeon habits remain a mystery, said Rowe, who is studying the fish along with the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre. <br /><br />The big fish are taken with gill nets with mesh of eight or nine inches, tagged, measured and weighed. Unfortunately, the scale wasn’t working when the female was caught. <br /><br />Rowe said he is not sure what parts of the lake are home to the sturgeon. He looks forward to the time when money is raised for a receiver. <br /><br />The fish being caught will have a radio tag and the receiver will allow researchers to follow their movements.