#sturgeon

fatehbaz:

The Columbia River Basin extends through what is now known as Washington State, Oregon, and British Columbia, as well as land belonging to the Yakama Nation. For millennia the basin has been home to the white sturgeon, a traditionally significant and abundant food source. The boom in caviar exports of the 1870s caused a steep decline in white sturgeon populations, and more recently, hydroelectric damming and climate change have threatened the habitat of these migratory fish. The population decline was reversed when the Yakama Nation began to undertake concerted restoration efforts. With a mission to revitalize […] white sturgeon in the mid-Columbia River and Lower Snake reservoirs, Yakama Nation Fisheries is bringing the species back.

For millennia, the Yakama people have resided in central Washington’s plateau and the Columbia River Basin. Throughout their history they utilized the entire landscape, from the Cascade Mountains to the riparian lowlands. To sustain their communities, some tribal members would seek game and edible plants in valleys and on the mountainside. Others would fish for white sturgeon, among other species of fish abundant in the basin. 

The largest freshwater fish found in North America, white sturgeon are reported to grow up to 20 feet in length and can weigh almost a ton. Some individuals have also reached an age of 100 years.

The 1800s saw not only the exploitation of white sturgeon for caviar, but intense conflicts over Native sovereignty and fishing rights. The influx of U.S. settlers beginning in the 1830s led to several treaties ceding Native land to the U.S. and British governments. In the Stevens Treaties of 1854 and 1855, 23 tribal groups and Native nations of the Pacific Northwest ceded approximately 64 million acres of land to the United States. Having been dispossessed of an incredible amount of land, […] Native nations considered the fishing clauses of the treaties to be among the most valuable provisions accorded. These clauses reserved the right of tribes to healthy habitats for species spawning upstream of tribal fishing sites, including sturgeon. In spite of these protections, the Columbia River Basin as it exists today is nearly unrecognizable from what it once was. In 1888, sturgeon fisheries were established along the Columbia River for the sole purpose of harvesting caviar, driving the white sturgeon to near extinction. Then, the construction of hydroelectric dams in the 1930s significantly fragmented the habitat of the white sturgeon.

Evidence points to climate change and glacier retreat as additional factors in river health and habitat viability. Though Mt. Adams and the Mazama Glacier lie within the Yakama Nation, Mauri Pelto, professor of environmental science at Nichols College, explained that meltwater inputs to the Columbia River come primarily from glaciers north of the U.S.-Canada border. Their contribution to the waterway becomes most important during warm, dry spells, when glacier melt spikes. […]

Through all of the environmental and political challenges over the centuries, the Yakama Nation continues to steward the Columbia River Basin and, beginning in 2009, established a program to revitalize white sturgeon populations. […] [T]he hatchery has released over 91,000 juvenile sturgeon to date.

—

Headline, photos, captions, and all text published by: Grace Palmer. “Yakama Nation fishery succeeds in restoring Columbia River sturgeon.” GlacierHub. 26 June 2020.

Distribution range of white sturgeon in the Columbia River basin:

nerviovago:

Giant sturgeon fish in Canada.

breelandwalker:

nerviovago:

nerviovago:

Giant sturgeon fish in Canada.

I’ve literally been thinking about this all day, I feel more sympathetic to ancient cartographers who added sea monsters to their maps.

There’s a good chance that some alleged sea serpents are/were misidentified sturgeons, particularly the ones that describe a series of ridges or “humps” along the back of the creature.

I won’t say that describing sturgeons as sea / lake monsters is a mistake though. Because that is clearly a sea / lake monster. Just because we’ve assigned a scientific name to it doesn’t mean it’s not also an awe-inspiring aquatic beastie of mythical proportions.

Jesus fuck that’s a big fish.  Makes me wonder how old that thing is to have gotten that large.

Margaret the Sturgeon photo dump of the progression throughout this first week with them. Next etsy update deets coming soon!

A patreon doodle request of a Happy Sturgeon ^0^/

nerviovago:

Giant sturgeon fish in Canada.

rockpapertheodore:

rockpapertheodore:

icthyian vs cetacean mermaids: discuss

@supernailgun thank you so much for your contributions to science, you are absolutely correct

Have some art:

Mrs. & Mrs. Beluga (who both kept their names).

Also posted separately here.

the-stabbiest-dragon:

nerviovago:

nerviovago:

Giant sturgeon fish in Canada.

I’ve literally been thinking about this all day, I feel more sympathetic to ancient cartographers who added sea monsters to their maps.

there are a few lakes in Vermont that are connected by old volcanic tubes, multiplying the potential feeding area for large aquatic fauna. long story short, the sturgeon here can get fucking huge. which makes sense, seeing as most large lakes here have lake monster myths. there was a group of divers sent into one of the lakes, I think Lake Memphremagog, to salvage a plane crash. this was back in the 70s or so. and they reported seeing moving shapes so big they never set foot in the lake again.
so yeah. giant sturgeon are absolutely real life lake monsters and I love them so much

Honestly large fish being filmed like this make me have hope in other water creatures existing, we might find something at the lower areas of the sea someday or something…

daamonx:

daamonx:

nerviovago:

nerviovago:

Giant sturgeon fish in Canada.

I’ve literally been thinking about this all day, I feel more sympathetic to ancient cartographers who added sea monsters to their maps.

Big

Big fis h

100% a Beaſt