An increasingly rare prehistoric fish species may soon gain protected status, as the National Marine Fisheries Service made a positive ruling in December 2001 to consider EPIC's petition to protect the Green Sturgeon under the federal Endangered Species Act. EPIC filed a formal scientific research petition to list the Green Sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act on June 11th, 2001. NMFS must now conduct a full status review of the Green Sturgeon and make a final determination on whether or not to protect the species within a year of receiving our petition.
The Green Sturgeon is a fascinating prehistoric anadromous fish that has roamed the Pacific Ocean and select rivers of the West Coast since the age of the dinosaurs. For over 200 million years this ancient fish has remained almost entirely unchanged in its appearance, reaching over seven feet in length, living up to seventy years, and weighing up to 350 pounds. The Green Sturgeon's skeleton is primarily comprised of cartilage, and the fish grows rows of bony plates for protection instead of scales. With its olive green color and vacuum cleaner-like mouth, the Green Sturgeon is undoubtedly the most unusual-looking creature to be found in the fish world today. The Green Sturgeon is a rare and beautiful remnant of a distant age that most of us have only read about in books.
The Green Sturgeon has faced increasing threats in the last 100 years of its long history. Water quality and quantity problems caused the species to decline dramatically by an estimated 88%. Spawning populations are presumed lost in many rivers, including the Eel, South Fork Trinity and San Joaquin Rivers in California, and the fish is believed to only have three remaining spawning populations today -- in the Sacramento and Klamath River basins in California, and the Rogue River in Oregon. All three of these populations are at critically low levels.
Until recently in the Green Sturgeon's history, pools 30 feet and deeper were abundant throughout the large rivers of the Pacific Northwest. These pools are essential for the large fish to spawn, but the prevalence of dams and diversions have made pools deeper than three feet increasingly hard to find. Sediment pollution has added to the problem, filling in the pools and smothering the Green Sturgeon's thin eggs.
Over-fishing has also been a contributing factor to the Green Sturgeon's decline. Sturgeons are vulnerable to over-fishing because of the inordinately long time it takes them to reach breeding age, and their infrequent reproductive successes. Sadly, their large size and sluggish nature also make them easy to net and snag.
Now is perhaps the most critical chapter in the 200-million year history of the Green Sturgeon. NMFS is required to make its final ruling on whether or not to add the Green Sturgeon to the growing list of endangered fish species by mid-summer. EPIC will continue to follow-up on this action, and will keep its membership apprised of all new developments. To see EPIC's 90-page research petition, photographs of the Green Sturgeon, a copy of NMFS' initial finding on our petition, and more on this miraculous fish species, please visit our Green Sturgeon page.
