CWSMACKDOWN
12-08-2003, 09:00 AM
Charleston Daily Mail
John McCoy
December 05 2003
If all goes well, Kanawha River fishermen might begin catching sturgeon before long. They won't be able to keep them, though.
Division of Natural Resources officials have been stocking shovelnose sturgeon in the Kanawha's Marmet pool since the summer of 2002.
The most recent stocking took place a couple of weeks ago. At night. In a driving rainstorm.
The nocturnal stocking had nothing to do with secrecy. DNR officials are proud to be restoring to the Kanawha's ecosystem a species that pollution had long since eliminated. The nighttime operation became necessary because the fish had been trucked all the way from Illinois, and biologists didn't want to stress them any further by keeping them in a truck overnight.
Bret Preston, chief of the DNR's warmwater fisheries section, says the restoration project is one the agency has wanted to do for a long time.
"We've always been interested in restoring species that have been eliminated from our rivers," Preston says. "Paddlefish and sturgeon were the two leading candidates."
Until last year, DNR officials concentrated their efforts on paddlefish because they were more easily obtained than sturgeon.
The opportunity to begin a sturgeon project arose when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began looking for ways to mitigate environmental damage caused by the Marmet Locks expansion project.
DNR officials suggested a restoration effort centered on so-called "open channel" species such as sturgeon, sauger, walleye and blue catfish.
Agency officials decided shovelnose sturgeon would be the most likely candidate for restoration, mainly because the species was abundant in the Kanawha and Ohio River watersheds before pollution wiped it out.
The 2002 stocking saw 38 adult sturgeons transferred to the Kanawha from Illinois' Wabash River. The most recent stocking saw just 21 fish stocked.
Preston says DNR officials decided to stock adult fish for two reasons.
"One, adult fish are much less susceptible to predators," he explains. "Two, they'll be able to spawn almost immediately."
Preston says the sturgeons, which feed primarily on crayfish, mussels and other aquatic invertebrates, have a chance to do well in the Kanawha.
"The water quality is good, and the food base is good," he says. At the same time, though, he tempers his optimism with a biologist's characteristic caution.
"Any time you attempt to restore a species, you don't know how it will turn out," he says "We put the fish in and hope for the best."
To protect the fledgling fishery, the Natural Resources Commission has enacted a no-kill regulation on sturgeon. Beginning Jan. 1, all sturgeon caught must be returned to the water immediately.
Preston says it could take years, or even decades, for a fishable population to develop.
"We've been stocking paddlefish for 10 years, and while we have a lot more paddlefish today than we had at the beginning, we still don't have a fishable population," he says. "These things take time."
If the stockings take hold, Kanawha anglers might one day look forward to catching 2- to 3-foot-long fish that can weigh as much as 10 pounds.
John McCoy
December 05 2003
If all goes well, Kanawha River fishermen might begin catching sturgeon before long. They won't be able to keep them, though.
Division of Natural Resources officials have been stocking shovelnose sturgeon in the Kanawha's Marmet pool since the summer of 2002.
The most recent stocking took place a couple of weeks ago. At night. In a driving rainstorm.
The nocturnal stocking had nothing to do with secrecy. DNR officials are proud to be restoring to the Kanawha's ecosystem a species that pollution had long since eliminated. The nighttime operation became necessary because the fish had been trucked all the way from Illinois, and biologists didn't want to stress them any further by keeping them in a truck overnight.
Bret Preston, chief of the DNR's warmwater fisheries section, says the restoration project is one the agency has wanted to do for a long time.
"We've always been interested in restoring species that have been eliminated from our rivers," Preston says. "Paddlefish and sturgeon were the two leading candidates."
Until last year, DNR officials concentrated their efforts on paddlefish because they were more easily obtained than sturgeon.
The opportunity to begin a sturgeon project arose when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began looking for ways to mitigate environmental damage caused by the Marmet Locks expansion project.
DNR officials suggested a restoration effort centered on so-called "open channel" species such as sturgeon, sauger, walleye and blue catfish.
Agency officials decided shovelnose sturgeon would be the most likely candidate for restoration, mainly because the species was abundant in the Kanawha and Ohio River watersheds before pollution wiped it out.
The 2002 stocking saw 38 adult sturgeons transferred to the Kanawha from Illinois' Wabash River. The most recent stocking saw just 21 fish stocked.
Preston says DNR officials decided to stock adult fish for two reasons.
"One, adult fish are much less susceptible to predators," he explains. "Two, they'll be able to spawn almost immediately."
Preston says the sturgeons, which feed primarily on crayfish, mussels and other aquatic invertebrates, have a chance to do well in the Kanawha.
"The water quality is good, and the food base is good," he says. At the same time, though, he tempers his optimism with a biologist's characteristic caution.
"Any time you attempt to restore a species, you don't know how it will turn out," he says "We put the fish in and hope for the best."
To protect the fledgling fishery, the Natural Resources Commission has enacted a no-kill regulation on sturgeon. Beginning Jan. 1, all sturgeon caught must be returned to the water immediately.
Preston says it could take years, or even decades, for a fishable population to develop.
"We've been stocking paddlefish for 10 years, and while we have a lot more paddlefish today than we had at the beginning, we still don't have a fishable population," he says. "These things take time."
If the stockings take hold, Kanawha anglers might one day look forward to catching 2- to 3-foot-long fish that can weigh as much as 10 pounds.