DESCRIPTION
-
The largest North American sturgeonat
a maximum of 20 feet (6.10 m), , the White
Sturgeon's greatest depth is about 14%
of the total length. It's eyes are small,
and the snout of an adult is short and
depressed with a wide toothless mouth.
Instead of scales the White Sturgeon is
covered with patches of miniscule dermal
denticles and isolated rows of large bony
plates. A lighter grey, pale olive or
grey-brown often speckled with white moving
to grey or white on the belly characterize
the coloring.
DISTRIBUTION
- The White Sturgeon is found on the Pacific
shores of North America near most coastal
drainages including the Fraser River system
(Harrison, Lower Pitt and Stellako Rivers),
Fraser and Stuart Lakes, Taku Lake, Kootenay
Lake and River, Columbia River, Duncan
Lake, and Vancouver Island. Although it
is landlocked in the upper Columbia River
it is anadromous in most other large rivers.
BIOLOGY
- The White Sturgeon moves into large
rivers in early spring as spawning usually
takes place in May and June although it
is sometimes later in distant migrants.
Adults survive spawning and return every
4 years for younger females and 9-11 years
in older females each laying about 699
000 eggs per 35 pound fish. Some of the
larger specimens are over 100 years old.
Mainly a bottom feeder, younger sturgeons
food generally consists of chironomids
and older adults feed predominantly on
fish then crayfish second.
RELATION
TO MAN - The flesh of the White Sturgeon
is highly acceptable as food and often
the eggs (as much as 200 pounds per female)
are marketed as caviar. Generally the
White Sturgeon is netted with salmon.
