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Oregon, Washington Fish, Wildlife Commissions Move to Protect Green Sturgeon
Responding to recommendations to increase protection for the green sturgeon in coastal waters, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission recently voted to lower retention-size limits for commercial fisheries that harvest this species, an important step to ensuring a future for this living relic.
Newswise — Responding to recommendations to increase protection for the green sturgeon in coastal waters, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission recently voted to lower retention-size limits for commercial fisheries that harvest this species, an important step to ensuring a future for this living relic. The Washington Commission directed their staff to examine ways to provide additional protection for green sturgeon.
Specifically, the Oregon commission voted to
reduce the commercial size limit for green
sturgeon from 5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet—a move
that will protect most adult male and female
sturgeons and ensure that the maximum number of
fish reaching maturity continue to spawn. Green
sturgeon are capable of spawning numerous times
throughout their lifespan, which may exceed 60
According to the research on the green sturgeon by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the larger 5 feet, 6 inch-size limit for commercial fisheries protects most female adult fish, but leaves up to 47 percent of the smaller-sized adult males susceptible to harvest. Reducing the size limit to 5 feet ensures that the most of the adult males and the genetic diversity they represent will return to their home rivers to spawn. The decision also brings commercial limits into consistency with sports fishing size limits in Oregon and Washington, already set at 5-feet even.
Although the two remaining populations of green sturgeon use different river systems for reproduction (the northern spawns in the Rogue River in Oregon and the Klamath River in California, and the southern uses the Sacramento river system), they frequent the same coastal waters, an important conservation consideration for the entire species of fish.
While commercial demand for the green sturgeon is currently low, a number of factors have changed during the past few decades regarding the survival of the species. Factors such as loss of suitable habitat, decreased water quality, and an increase in predators, are casting doubt on the green sturgeon’s long-term survival. Because the population status of green sturgeon is uncertain, efforts to reduce mortality on any front is a positive step towards securing the future of this species.
Besides providing data on green sturgeon maturation rates to commissions in Oregon and Washington State for management decisions, Erickson pioneered the usage of radio and satellite tags to follow the movements of individual green sturgeon within and outside of the Rogue River system to better understand the ecological needs of the species.
“Relative to most other species of sturgeons,
some populations of both green and white sturgeon
are considered to be the healthiest populations in
the world,” added Erickson. “By implementing
precautionary management strategies in the face of
uncertainty, we can ensure a future for these
Page Updated: Thursday May 07, 2009 09:15 AM Pacific
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