STURGEON

This one was caught on the Detroit River, near the steel plants!

Source:  Unknown

Below is an interesting story about a Sturgeon that appeared on www.mlive.com on Thursday March 31, 2005

From the Muskegon Chronicle. .

Researchers find a whopper ready to spawn in river

By Bob Kingsley

CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

"This fish is simply huge."

Sturgeon researcher Paul Vecsei couldn't stifle the excited tone in his voice as the massive fish swirled near the surface. "I've never seen one any bigger!"

But then our crew faced a difficult task: How do you get a fish the size of a basketball player into the boat?

On Tuesday, I joined Vescei and his sturgeon research team on their regular rounds of the nets in Muskegon Lake. They're catching sturgeon on the way to the Muskegon River spawning ground, attaching monitoring equipment to the giant lake-dwellers and releasing them to do their reproductive thing.

That's where I met "Muskegon Matilda." At 6 feet 3 inches and more than 135 pounds, she's the biggest sturgeon these researchers have yet pulled from our waters.

Lake sturgeon are monstrously large fish that have inhabited local waters for thousands of years, but in recent years their spawning run has dwindled to just a precious few. That's the problem Vecsei and his crew have been examining by collecting data during the past four years.

Each spring Vecsei, who is completing his doctoral degree from the University of Georgia, sets a series of gill nets at the mouth of the north branch of the Muskegon River. After the fish have been netted, they are weighed and measured. A section is then cut from the pectoral fin which will be used to accurately determine its age.

Before the sturgeon are released, a passive integrated responder (PIT) tag is inserted under the skin which contains a permanent serial code. A radio transmitter is also attached to enable the research team to track these denizens as they work their way upriver to spawn.

During the spring of 2002, Vecsei and his crew caught and released "Muskegon Mary" which at 125 pounds was then the largest sturgeon taken during this study. Two years later another large sturgeon nicknamed "Molly," estimated at 130 pounds, was hit and killed by a prop from a freighter coming through the Muskegon Channel.

Last week Vecsei caught, tagged, and released another large female weighing 115 pounds.

But none of these aforementioned fish were as big as what he and Gerhard Holmok, a fisheries technician, were attempting to roll over the gunwales of their flat-bottom boat Tuesday.

"Put your camera down and get between us," Vecsei hollered to me as he leaned over the side of the boat. "It'll take all three of us to get this fish in and we better do it quick or else we're going to lose her."

Vecsei and Holmok each took one end while I reached in to wrap an arm around the middle. It was like hoisting a slippery diver in a wet suit; she's got a 36-inch "waist."

"Lift her out," yelled Vecsei as the three of us summoned all the strength we could muster. It wasn't an easy task because my arms weren't long enough to fully wrap around the middle of the fish and its smooth skin left little to grab onto.

With one last mighty heave, the enormous sturgeon was resting at the bottom of the boat.

So was Vescei.

"That rush of adrenaline was what gave me the strength to bring her in," he said as he collapsed alongside his captured quarry.

He marveled at the creature's size. "I've been netting sturgeon all over the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River for the past eight years and this is the biggest lake sturgeon I've ever seen."

Keeping with the local tradition of Muskegon Mary and Molly, this latest edition was given the moniker Matilda. Like the unofficial anthem of Australia, we all hope that one spring in the next seven years Matilda will come "waltzing" back to the Muskegon River.

As Holmok began to cut away the gill net Vecsei measured the sturgeon at 75 inches in length. Next the PIT tag was attached and two small holes were drilled through the bony plate on the back of the fish (causing no injury to the fish) where the radio tag was to be attached.

The final step was to roll the trophy catch into a net where it could be hoisted and accurately weighed prior to release.

There were some surprises in what we learned, especially in what a growing girl Matilda is.

"That fish was most likely about 40 years old, and it normally takes 60 to 70 years for sturgeon to reach that size," Vescei said.

Apparently, she's a good eater and our lakes are a bounteous buffet. "There is an abundance of forage. These fish feed on zebra mussels and they love gobies."

Unfortunately, there are millions of those invader species and only hundreds of sturgeon. But that could change.

"This fish could easily produce up to a million eggs when she spawns upriver sometime in late May," said Vecsei. "Once the male(s) have fertilized her eggs, she'll soon be heading back to Lake Michigan."

After the spawn, Vescei's team will set out larval drift nets downstream from the gravel where she's spread her eggs so they can capture any baby sturgeon shortly after they hatch.

"This will be the final year of our team working on this project," said Vecsei. "Once we are done we'll turn over our raw data to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and then they will decide what form of rehabilitation, if any, will be required in order to sustain or restore the sturgeon population of the Muskegon River."

The success of Vecsei's work with the Muskegon River sturgeon may very well help chart the future direction of our fishery. Hopefully, his work will make it possible for Matilda, Mary and several of their unnamed male suitors to one day return to the Muskegon River system and continue their thousand-generation line here.

This material has been compiled for educational use only, and may not be reproduced without permission.  One copy may be printed for personal use.  Please contact Randall Schaetzl (soils@msu.edu) for more information or permissions.