Protection Sought For Primeval Fish Species
Action Needed to Protect the Green Sturgeon

June 1, 2001


Since the age of the dinosaurs, Green Sturgeons have roamed the Pacific Ocean and select rivers on the West Coast, remaining almost entirely unchanged in their appearance for more than 200 million years. This ancient fish can reach over 7 feet in length and migrated in huge numbers until very recently, so it is surprising that it has become the obscure species that it is today. The Green Sturgeon is one of the many forgotten wonders of the North Coast, and for the first time in its long history, it is slipping quietly towards the brink of extinction.

On June 11, EPIC formally petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS") to protect the Green Sturgeon and its habitat under the federal Endangered Species Act ("ESA"). The American Fisheries Society recently released a status review of the Green Sturgeon that concluded the species has declined by 88% throughout most of its range and is in danger of becoming extinct.

Green Sturgeon are among the largest and longest living species found in freshwater, living up to 70 years and weighing up to 350 pounds. They resemble some sort of prehistoric creature, possessing a skeleton that is more cartilage than bone and rows of bony plates for protection rather than scales. Green Sturgeon are olive green in color and have a vacuum cleaner-like mouth that is used to siphon food from the bottom of bays and estuaries.

The Green Sturgeon ranges from Mexico to Alaska in marine waters and feeds in estuaries and bays from San Francisco Bay to British Columbia. They spawn only in the largest of rivers in the Pacific Northwest, all of which have diversions, dams and sediment problems that limit natural flow regimes and suitable spawning conditions for the Green Sturgeon. Spawning populations are only known to occur in three river systems today - the Sacramento River and Klamath-Trinity River basins in California, and the Rogue River in Oregon. It estimated that the three remaining spawning populations contain only a few hundred mature females.

Until recently in the Green Sturgeon's long 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 dams and water diversions have made pools deeper than 3 feet increasingly hard to find. Sediment pollution has also added to the problem, filling in the pools and smothering the Green Sturgeon's thin eggs.

It is presumed that spawning populations of Green Sturgeons have been lost in California in the Eel, South Fork Trinity and San Joaquin Rivers since the 1960's and 1970's. The San Francisco Bay population is estimated to be only 500 to 1000 adult fish today. The size of the Klamath basin population is unknown, but is likely the largest spawning population remaining on the West Coast.

Although spawning populations are thought to be lost in the Eel River, there is reason to hope this could be reversed. Nearly 500 juvenile Green Sturgeon were found in the Eel River between 1967 and 1970 at Rio Dell, Holmes, McCann, Eel Rock, and Fort Seward. The files at the California Department of Fish and Game include a photograph of a Green Sturgeon that was caught at High Rock on the Eel in 1978 and was nearly 7 feet long and 98 pounds. Also, Green Sturgeon were seen far upstream in the Eel River each year from 1995 to 1997. There have been no indications of spawning in recent years, however, and biologists fear that they are no longer able to reproduce in the watershed. If the Eel has lost its spawning population of Green Sturgeons, these recent sightings offer a big glimmer of hope that this primeval creature will continue to roam the waters of this Wild and Scenic River as it has for eons.

In addition to habitat destruction, historic over-fishing was a major cause of decline of the Green Sturgeon, and present harvest rates probably continue to deplete a stock of large, old fish so that the population cannot renew itself. Sturgeons are highly vulnerable to over-fishing because of the long time it takes them to reach breeding maturity and their infrequent reproductive success. Their large size and sluggish nature make them easy to net and snag. Until recently, various West Coast fisheries were harvesting at least 6,000 to 11,000 Green Sturgeon per year. More restrictive size limit fishing regulations have been gradually implemented in California, Oregon and Washington, but these are mainly aimed at protecting the larger and more common white sturgeon, and allow many of the large breeding-age Green Sturgeon to be caught.

Eight species of sturgeon occur in North America, four of which (plus one population of the white sturgeon) are already listed as endangered or threatened: the Shortnose sturgeon, Gulf sturgeon, Pallid sturgeon, Alabama sturgeon, and the Kootenai River population of the white sturgeon.

NMFS has 90 days to make a preliminary finding on the petition, and one year to make a final listing determination. Citizens are encouraged to submit letter to NMFS to urge the protection of the magnificent Green Sturgeon. Letters should be addressed to:

The National Marine Fisheries Service
Pacific Northwest Region


This article can be found online at www.wildcalifornia.org/publications/article-32