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Gulf Sturgeon: Prehistoric Delicacy

Giant fish in excess of 1000 pounds in Florida rivers! Is this a headline from the national Enquirer?No! It is a little known, not publicized but a well documented fact about a Florida fish species.Sturgeon that reach in excess of 1000 pounds do indeed live in some rivers, (the Steinhatchee, theEcofina, the Aucilla the Suwanee) in North Florida. The average size of these prehistoric fish is inthe neighborhood of 16-25-lbs.

Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, is a 200 million year old species that is a close relativeof the famous Caspian Sea Russian sturgeon varieties. It is very closely related to the giant, highlyprized Beluga Sturgeon, producer of the world famous beluga caviar.

The strange, armored fish live in the rivers where they spawn in Florida. Sturgeon were veryplentiful in North Florida until they were decimated by gill netting into in the 1930's. Florida isactively nurturing a program to bring back this prehistoric fish famed more for its caviar althoughthe meat is excellent fare as well.

Gulf Sturgeon Description

They are very recognized by the well defined rows of bony plates also called scutes, along body.These fish can grow to exceed 9-feet in length weigh in at 500+ pounds. Sturgeon have a suction-type mouth located beneath the head.

Gulf Sturgeon Diet:

These fish survive thrive upon bottom dwelling organisms such as amphipods, isopods, crustaceans,egg sacs marine worms.

Gulf Sturgeon Habitat

Sturgeon are to be found in the Gulf of Mexico, the bays estuaries in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,Louisiana east Texas. Major freshwater rivers from the Suwannee River to the Mississippi River arespawning grounds for these wonderful fish. Gulf Sturgeon are an anadromous species that migratesfrom salt water into coastal rivers to spawn. These fish must be 9-12 years of age before they canspawn.

Gulf Sturgeon Life History

Because our sturgeon spend a large portion of their life in rivers then migrate to the Gulf of Mexicothey cannot be said to be either exclusively salt water or fresh water fish. They are very long livedexceeding 70 years.

Fisheries, fish farms controlled breeding programs have led to the comeback of this great fish. Theirmeat is smoked or grilled for the table. Sturgeon eggs are stripped from the female, salted packed toproduce a caviar that is second only to Russian beluga caviar in taste quality. In fact the highlyendangered beluga sturgeon is now being grown in North Florida with great success the hope is thatenough of them can be grown to produce a re-stocking population for the Caspian Sea in the future.

The Steinhatchee River in Taylor County in the Florida Panhandle is a river that runs above groundfor many miles then disappears into the ground to reappear about 5 miles south as it flows for a fewmore miles into the Gulf of Mexico. This river is a well known spawning ground for the Gulf

Sturgeon. Individual catches running from 8-lbs up to 55-lbs are common.

If you have never eaten sturgeon it is a mild flavored fish, firm fleshed white meat that is excellentfor smoking, grilling or in a fish stew. I can only tell you that you really need to try this table fare.The caviar is also delicious much less expensive than the imported caviars of Russian Iranian origin.

The following is quoted in its entirety from the source listed therein:

"Florida Sturgeon "Attacks" Over For Now

Hillary Mayell

for National Geographic News

November 12, 2002

Florida boaters can heave a collective sigh of relief as the last of the Gulf sturgeon head to theirwinter feeding grounds in the Gulf of Mexico.

The fish's leaping ability and its sizeEUR"the Gulf species can grow to between six and nine feet(1.8 to 2.7 meters) long and weigh 200 pounds (90 kilograms)EUR"have led to close encounters of adangerous kind for boaters.

Last summer, at least four people were injured when the fish with prehistoric roots leapt out of thewater and crashed into them.

The injuries were not minor; they included concussions, broken ribs and sternum, a collapsed lung,cracked teeth, and gashes requiring stitches.

Still, biologists laugh at the media's characterization of the incidents as "attacks."

"This fish is a living dinosaur," said Frank Parauka, a fish biologist with the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService. "It's a really docile fish, easily exploited."

He likens the encounters to deer crossing in front of vehicles. "These things just happen," he said.

If the incidents are happening more often, it's almost certainly because there are more boaters onthe rivers today.

Jumping Mystery

Sturgeon first appear in the fossil record about 225 million years ago, and they've been leaping eversince. But why do they jump?

"The big ones are the most noticeable, especially when they're jumping in the boat and taking outthe driver. But all sturgeon jump," said Daniel Roberts, a research scientist with the Florida MarineResearch Institute.

"There are several theories about why they jump, but no real proof to back up any of them."

The theories are wide ranging. They start with the possible but non-provable: "Because they can,"

suggested Parauka. "For joy," said Roberts.

Both men, being scientists, quickly offered a plethora of other possible explanations.

One theory says the sturgeon leap to avoid predators. "Of course, the ones in the Suwannee Riverare so big you wouldn't think they had predators," said Roberts, "but it's possible they could beavoiding alligators."

Some fish species jump in an effort to dislodge clinging parasitic crustaceans. "The fish we see don'tlook like they have enough parasites to make them irritable, though," said Parauka.

There could be an anatomical reason. "Some fishes can actually gulp air," said Roberts. "Sturgeonlike high oxygen levels, and in some parts of the river the dissolved oxygen levels go down below twoparts per million. So they may just be compensating."

Because the fish are bottom dwellers, they might be leaping to flush out their gills. Or it could be away of communicating with their buddies.

Somewhat ominously for boaters, it's also possible that the sound of approaching boats spurs themon.

Living Fossils

Hunted to the brink of extinction for their meat and eggs, caviar, to humans Gulf sturgeon werelisted as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1991.

"This fish is a living dinosaur," said Parauka. "They've been here for over 200 million years and oncethey're gone you'll never see it again. We wouldn't want to be responsible for seeing the end of theseanimals."

Their recovery is hampered both by environmental reasonsEUR"destruction and degradation ofhabitat, deteriorating water quality, dams blocking their passage upstreamEUR"and biologicalreasons. They can live to be 40 years old, and are slow to mature and reproduce. Females arethought to spawn only a few times during their lifetime.

There are also gaps in what is known about the Gulf sturgeon.

Researchers know that the fish winter in the Gulf of Mexico, but it's not clear exactly where they go,and whether they prefer deep waters or coastal waters.

Bottom-dwelling and toothless, they feed by vacuuming up their prey. Yet for some reason, they eatonly in late fall and winter. In the spring they return to the streams where they were born.

Parauka estimates that the overall sturgeon population today is 10,000 to 12,000. Florida'sSuwannee River, which is where the bulk of the jumping incidents occurred, has the largestpopulation, with estimates of between 5,000 and 7,500, he said. Other river systems in Florida,Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have estimated populations of several hundred sturgeon.

Scientists have been struggling to determine what minimum number of the fish would be requiredfor their populations to be self-sustaining, thereby allowing Gulf sturgeon to be de-listed as athreatened species.

"We really have no accurate historic information telling us what the river systems originally held,"said Parauka. "Landing records from commercial fisheries in the early 1900s tell us that there wereonce tremendous populations in these systems."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to designate critical habitat for the sturgeon inFebruary 2003 as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club.

More fish and more boaters will almost inevitably lead to more people-sturgeon encounters.

But until February, when the sturgeon reverse their migration to return to the streams where theywere born, Florida boaters can ply the waters without worrying whether some prehistoric fish islurking below, poised to leap."

Sources:

Florida Sturgeon "Attacks" Over For Now

By Hillary Mayell, National Geographic New, 17 Nov. 2002

Life history of the Gulf of Mexico sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrhynchus desotoi, in the Suwannee River

Huff, J.A. 1975. , Florida. Marine Resources Pub. No. 16. 32 pp.

Foods of the Gulf sturgeon Acipenser oxyrhynchus desotoi in the Suwannee River

Mason, W.T., Jr., and J.P. Clugston. 1993, Florida. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society122:378-385

Movement, microhabitat, exploitation and management of Gulf of Mexico sturgeon ApalachicolaRiver, Florida

Wooley, C.M., and E.J. Crateau. 1985, North American Journal of Fisheries Management 16:590-605.

Mason, W.T., Jr., and J.P. Clugston. 1993. Foods of the Gulf sturgeon Acipenser oxyrhynchus desotoi

in the Suwannee River, Florida. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 122:378-385.

http://usdafisheries.gov/gulfsturgeon

http://www.aquaculture-development.com/Photos__Sturgeon_Fish_Farm

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/species/fish/Gulf_sturgeon.html

Copyright 2007-2009 Donald R Houston, PhD. All rights reserved. This material may not bepublished, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.

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