State approves emergency restrictions on sturgeon fishing
By: Associated Press | ∞
RIVERSIDE -- California wildlife regulators on Thursday approved emergency restrictions on sturgeon fishing in an effort to bolster depleted populations of the giant fish.
The state Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to reduce the maximum size of white sturgeon that can be caught or possessed from 72 inches to 56 inches. The commissioners, meeting in Riverside, also voted to bar fishermen from taking less frequently fished green sturgeon.
The new regulations are aimed at increasing the number of mature female sturgeon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system and expand the state's sturgeon populations, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.
The emergency regulations, which would be in place for 120 days, were expected to take effect within the next two weeks pending approval by the state Office of Administrative Law, said DFG spokesman Steve Martarano.
After peaking at about 144,000 in 1998, the number of legal-sized white sturgeon has fallen to a 50-year low of about 10,000, according to the latest estimates. State biologists attribute the decline to poor spawning success, migratory obstacles, poaching and overfishing.
White sturgeon, which are found only in the Sacramento River and Washington's Columbia River, can live 100 years and grow to 1,000 pounds. They are prized for their roe, which can be processed into caviar.
Sport fishermen are now allowed to catch one white sturgeon per day.
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