What Do We Know About Sturgeon?
Sturgeon Around the World
There are twenty-five different species of sturgeon (family Acipenseridae) around the world, found in rivers, lakes and coastline habitats ranging from sub-tropical to Arctic rivers. Members of the sturgeon family are distinctive for their elongated bodies, lack of scales, and occasional great size. Sturgeon ranging from 2-3 m in length are common, and some species reach lengths of 5.5 m.
Sturgeon of North America
Image used with permission – 2008 G.R. fitch/ZenMedia – acigifts@yahoo.com & www.zazzle.com/gmsturg
Image used with permission – 2008 G.R. fitch/ZenMedia – acigifts@yahoo.com & www.zazzle.com/gmsturg
What Do We Know About Lake Sturgeon?
Where Are They Found?
Lake Sturgeon (Namao in Cree) are found exclusively in North America and, although they have one of the widest geographic distributions of any fish on the continent, are restricted to three major watersheds: the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi. In the United States, Lake Sturgeon distribution includes nineteen states, including the Mississippi Drainage and its large tributaries south to Nebraska, Missouri and Alabama; tributaries to the Great Lakes; and in the Red River drainage. In Canada, the Lake Sturgeon occurs in five provinces. Its distribution extends from the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan rivers in western Alberta east to the St. Lawrence estuary in Quebec; north to the mouth of the Seal River in Manitoba. It includes the Great Lakes, upper St. Lawrence River, and most of the large rivers draining into James Bay and the lower half of the western shores of Hudson Bay.
Are Lake Sturgeon Populations Healthy?
Lake Sturgeon is listed as “Special Concern” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as “Threatened” in North America by the American Fisheries Society and as either “Threatened” or “Endangered” by 19 of the 20 states within its original range in the United States. The Lake Sturgeon population in Michigan was once estimated to have been reduced to about one percent of its former abundance.
What About Lake Sturgeon Populations in Canada?
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is a group of independent experts that is responsible for assessing and designating the wildlife species in Canada that are in danger of disappearing. In 2017 the most recent COSEWIC assessment of Lake Sturgeon separated Canadian Lake Sturgeon populations into four “designatable units” (DUs): DU1 Western Hudson Bay; DU2 Saskatchewan – Nelson River; DU3 Southern Hudson Bay – James Bay; and DU4 Great Lakes – Upper St. Lawrence. Lake Sturgeon populations in DUs 1 and 2 were classified as “Endangered”, those in DU3 as “Special Concern”, and those in DU4 as “Threatened.”
Nelson River Lake Sturgeon are included in DU2 and listed as “Endangered” by COSEWIC. This classification identifies species COSEWIC considers to be facing imminent extirpation or extinction. Lake Sturgeon inhabiting the Hayes River system are included in DU3 (Southern Hudson/James Bay populations) and listed as “Special Concern.” This classification identifies species that COSEWIC considers may become threatened or endangered because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.”
What Does a COSEWIC Listing Mean?
Once a species is assessed, COSEWIC sends its assessment and supporting evidence (i.e., rationale and status reports) for species classified as at risk (e.g., Extirpated, Endangered, Threatened, or Special Concern) to the Federal Minister of the Environment and the Canadian Endangered Species Conservation Council. Within nine months after receiving the assessment the Federal Government may: accept the assessment and add the species to Schedule 1 under the Species at Risk Act (SARA); decide not to add the species to the Schedule 1; or refer the matter back to COSEWIC for further information or consideration. Once a species is listed under SARA it becomes illegal to kill, harass, capture or harm it in any way. Critical habitats are also protected from destruction. The Act also requires that recovery strategies, action plans and management plans be developed for all listed species.
Although Lake Sturgeon in the Nelson River were designated as “Endangered” by COSEWIC in 2017, no decision has been made with regard to listing the species under Schedule 1 of SARA.
Based on the listing by COSEWIC in 2006, and pursuant to Lake Sturgeon being considered for listing under SARA, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) conducted a recovery potential assessment for Lake Sturgeon in the Nelson River in 2010. For assessment purposes DFO divided the DU into six Lake Sturgeon Management Units (MUs), four of which are encompassed by the area of concern for the KSNC: Kelsey GS to Kettle GS (MU3); Long Spruce Reservoir (MU4); Limestone Reservoir (MU5); and Limestone GS to Hudson Bay (MU6). Based on available data and expert opinion, the status of Lake Sturgeon in MUs 4 and 5 was considered “critical” as relatively few Lake Sturgeon were known to be present. The status of MU3 Lake Sturgeon was deemed to be “cautious” with an unknown trajectory. The status of MU6 was considered “healthy” with an unknown trajectory. The recovery potential assessment set a long-term recovery goal of protecting and maintaining healthy, viable populations of Lake Sturgeon in all MUs on the Nelson River.