Who lives where? Who lives how? What story do these fish have? We are happy to answer these and other questions in our species presentation.
Description
The White Sturgeon can be a maximum of over 600 cm long and 800 kg heavy. The white sturgeon lives most of the time in fresh water or at river mouths in brackish water.
The White Sturgeon was originally distributed from the west coast of North America from California to the Gulf of Alaska. It is now only found in California, Oregon, Washington (USA and the Province of British Columbia (Canada). The white sturgeon is very popular with sport fishermen.
In the meantime, the White Sturgeon is protected by the "Washington Convention on the Protection of Species (CITES)". The freshwater populations of the white sturgeon in the Columbia River system are particularly threatened these days. Populations in other rivers still seem intact and can still be used by sport fishermen.
The White Sturgeon is a valuable edible fish. Its meat can be roasted, grilled, smoked, baked or steamed. White Sturgeon eggs are marketed as caviar.
Way of Life/Habitat
The white sturgeon lives most of the time in fresh or brackish water.
In the Kootenai River (left tributary of the Columbia River in British Columbia) there is a natural, pure freshwater poulation of the white sturgeon.
After the construction of dams in the Columbia River and Snake River, white sturgeons also exist there (forcibly), which live exclusively in fresh water.
The white sturgeon is an anadromous migratory fish. Sexually mature animals migrate upstream to the spawning grounds either in autumn or spring.
Young white sturgeons spend the first years of their lives in fresh water and then migrate into the sea. After reaching sexual maturity, the fish migrate back to fresh water for spawning. Afterwards they can survive in the sea, where they live near the coast in water depths of up to 30 meters.
Fact sheet
Scientific Name:
Acipenser transmontanus
Size:
Average approx. 210 cm, maximum 610 cm
Weight:
Maximum published weight 816 kg
Age:
100 years and older
Habitat:
Originally from the west coast of North America from California to the Gulf of Alaska
