April 6, 2007
On Thursday, April 5, you could cut the tension with a knife – no pun
intended – in the State fish holding facilities of Marion State Hatchery
and Alabama’s Biodiversity Center. The Alabama Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division
Fisheries Assistant Chief Nick Nichols, with scalpel in hand, made a small
incision in the underbelly of the very rare Alabama sturgeon. Those
assisting and observing the procedure held their breath…Is it boy or a
girl? Is it fertile and healthy? After examining the sturgeon, Nichols
announced, “It’s a male and he’s not in the reproductive phase.” It was
both good news and bad news for biologists who have been chasing the
elusive species for many years.
Forget the bad news that there won’t be baby sturgeons in the near
future. The good news is that the Alabama sturgeon is on record, the second
largest of its species captured, measuring 785 mm (31 inches) and most
likely, when released back into the wild, will lead fisheries biologists to
others of its kind. The largest Alabama sturgeon on record measured 810 mm
(32 inches) and was caught back in 1953 in the Tombigbee River in Sumter
County. The last Alabama sturgeon caught was in 1999.
During the recent surgery, a sonic tag was inserted into the fish
believed to be the rarest large fish collected in North America in the past
seven years. The tag will allow the fish’s movements to be tracked to
determine if other Alabama sturgeons are in the area and locations where
the species migrate upstream to spawn. This is very important information
about the species listed as federally endangered by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS), said USFWS Warm Springs Hatchery Manager Carlos
Echevarría. “The data collected from this unique species will help in the
efforts to recover more so they can continue to be studied, propagated, and
protected.” Spawning conditions don’t occur often according to sturgeon
experts. In fact, conditions must be perfect in regard to both the male and
female meaning both fish must be in the fertile cycle at the same time to
successfully spawn. The signal the tracking device will emit for
approximately the next four years will help biologists learn about the
fish’s movements and may lead to the capture a female sturgeon. If that
female produces eggs ready for fertilization, they will be mixed with
previously frozen male sturgeon sperm to hopefully produce thousands of
young.
ADCNR Fisheries Biologist Steve Rider and Biologist Aides Travis Powell
and Tom Ringenberg caught the elusive Alabama sturgeon at around 8 a.m.
below the Claiborne Lock and Dam on the Alabama River on Tuesday, April 3,
2007. Out gathering data on paddlefish, the three were in disbelief when
they found the fish tangled in a net they pulled in. “We were pretty
excited because we knew we had something special,” said Rider. “We haven’t
caught one of these since August 1999 and catching a fish this rare shows
that the species is hanging on, that they’re still out there, and we need
to do all we can to preserve and protect the species.”
Alabama sturgeon were once found in the Cahaba, Alabama, Black Warrior
and Tombigbee River systems. Construction of multi-purpose dams has reduced
the historical range of this species significantly. In 1993 the Alabama
Sturgeon Conservation Plan was implemented with the support of private
organizations and various state and federal agencies. The Division of
Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries has taken the lead role in this recovery
effort, which includes the collecting, holding and spawning of adult
sturgeon to produce young that can be stocked in areas of the state where
they were historically found. Intense efforts of Division of Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries personnel have led to the capture of six Alabama
sturgeons since that time.
Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, in the Biological Sciences Division of The University
of Alabama, has been studying the Alabama sturgeon for nearly 15 years.
“After hearing about the capture, I couldn’t sleep that night because I was
so excited knowing that I would be onsite the next day with such a rare
find,” Kuhajda said. “Since the species was listed as endangered in 2000,
no specimens have been collected. With an ancestry that dates back 75,000
years, finding one now indicates that the species is still part of the
Alabama River ecosystem and is something we need to study and protect.”
Since the species is listed as endangered under the Federal Endangered
Species Act, certain regulations must be followed if anglers catch an
Alabama sturgeon. Nichols asks for the public’s cooperation by saying, “It
is imperative that if caught, the fish is released immediately if not
showing signs of distress. Take a photo if possible without harming the
fish and then call our office to report the catch and location.” For more
information on the Alabama sturgeon, visit
www.outdooralabama.com or
www.fws.gov.
|