Sturgeon rescue offers unique management opportunity

PARK FALLS Wis. -- In the Ojibwa language of the Chippewa Indians the word Namekagon means “place of the sturgeon.” Early last month, in a place below the Arpin Dam on the Chippewa River, nearly 126 of these prehistoric fish came close to dying.

Normally the minimum flow rate at this point of the river is 40 cubic feet per second (cfs), enough to sustain fish and aquatic life downstream. Thieflow rate is maintained by “stops” on the dam gates. But the metal stops had rusted off causing the gates to close allowing only about 3 to 7 cfs of water to pass.

As the water flows decreased and levels dropped, lake sturgeon gathered in a small pool below the dam. Had enough time elapsed, state fisheries experts say, the fish may have died from disease, lack of dissolved oxygen, or poachers.

On April 27, Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Tom Heisler was driving by the river and discovered the problem. He immediately called Frank Pratt and Jeff Scheirer, DNR fisheries managers at Hayward and Park Falls, who saw a unique opportunity.

Over the next two days, with assistance from the Lac Court Oreilles tribe’s Conservation Department, 126 sturgeon were not only moved to safer quarters but each fish was tagged with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT). Like a microchip injected into a dog or cat by a veterinarian, the animal or in this case fish could be identified individually in the future.

“PIT tags allow us to determine the growth rates of fish upon a later recapture,” said Fisheries Team Leader, Dave Neuswanger, “and it allows us to estimate what proportion of legal-sized adults over 50 inches are harvested each year.”

Anglers will be part of the recapture and data collection effort. There is a hook and line season on the Chippewa River’s sturgeon from early September to mid-October.

“All our registration stations in the Chippewa River valley have hand held scanners that can read the numbers off the PIT tags embedded in the fleshy base of the pectoral fin,” Neuswanger said. Having this many additional tagged fish will likely present valuable information to biologists managing this fish species.

Beginning this year, anglers who intend to harvest a sturgeon must purchase a registration tag that costs $20 for residents and $50 for non-residents. Only one fish over 50 inches may be taken per season and any legal size fish kept must be registered.

Sturgeon are considered living fossils, appearing first about 136 million years ago when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth. They have retained many primitive characteristics that have been lost or modified in other modern-day fishes. Today these fish are found in the Great Lakes and major river systems of the state.

Following the fish rescue work the dam was reopened to restore the minimum flow rates. The dam owner will replace the rusted stops with a new mechanism allowing flow rate reductions if more sturgeon need to be PIT tagged. Sturgeon and other fish are now able to move up and down the river below the dam.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Pratt – (715) 634-9658