Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) on Apr 30, 2008

Submitter does not have a specimen

Description of specimen

We did not keep the specimen because technically it would have been illegal to. We were commercial fishing during the fall gillnet season of 2006 with my father on his boat when while picking up the net my father caught an approximately 18 inch Sturgeon. What made this unique was that other than the white underside the sturgeon was black, and I mean jet black. I wish we had a camera on board to have taken a picture of it. I'm sorry that we couldn't keep it but law enforcement already harrasses the commercial fishermen on the river and will use any excuse to make our lives hell and would love to nail us for a shurt sturgeon even if it is a different species or a mutant. We carry a camera at all times on the boat now and I will make sure that my dad has this website bookmarked next time I go to the island.

Commentary

Could this have been a species from elsewhere. I was thinking that it may have been planted by an immegrant from Eastern Europe. What color are Beluga Sturgeon? I amonly familiar with the Colubia River White and Green Sturgeon and have never seen any other species of strugeon. Sorry that I have no proof of this but I am sure that you understand the reasons why we couldn't keep it and at least we keep a digital camera on board now. Also it is the only one that we have ever seen so it is very possible that it was a mutant or the result of resessive genes.

Reporter
April 30, 2008, 2:45 p.m.

I talked with the sturgeon biologist with the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission about this. He said it is common for sturgeon to have some variation in color and that this was likely a highly pigmented green sturgeon - very highly pigmented from your description.
Thanks for the report though.
Mark

Mark Sytsma
May 15, 2008, 1:07 a.m.