‘Monsters’: Sturgeon endure in Alberta rivers, but their future is uncertain

EDMONTON — They lurk successful nan murky depths of immoderate of Alberta’s biggest rivers, surviving fossils from erstwhile elephantine lizards strode nan earth.

But a salient fisheries biologist fears nan province’s reservoir sturgeon whitethorn yet stock nan destiny of nan dinosaurs because of increasing unit connected h2o resources.

“The much you shrink nan area successful which a critter lives, nan greater nan chances are that critter could wink out,” said Lorne Fitch, a retired provincial biologist, assemblage professor and author. “That’s surely what could hap to reservoir sturgeon.”

Lake sturgeon are dissimilar immoderate different freshwater fish.

They appeared astir 200 cardinal years ago, someway surviving nan monolithic extinction of nan dinosaurs and nan freezing acold of nan crystal ages. They’ve changed small since — and look their age.

“They’re monsters,” Fitch said.

Covered pinch sharp, bony plates and coarse tegument alternatively of scales, they tin turn up to 2 metres long. Long, delicate “whiskers” called barbels turn from nan sides of their mouths, allowing them to find crayfish, snails, clams and leeches successful nan muddy stream bottoms they frequent.

They person nary backbones, having originated earlier food evolved spines. They unrecorded for decades and are difficult to spot.

But erstwhile they do appear, they look really intimidating, said Fitch.

“It’s for illustration dragging nan distant past retired of a pool. It made maine wonder, ‘What benignant of a world did these food germinate into that they had to person these armour plates?'”

Once abundant, sturgeon numbers person shrunk arsenic h2o value successful Alberta rivers has deteriorated and their erstwhile uninterrupted courses person been chopped up by dams. Fitch said location are nary reliable organization estimates, but occidental reservoir sturgeon are designated arsenic endangered nether nan national Species At Risk Act and arsenic threatened nether Alberta legislation.

“We don’t really cognize really galore sturgeon location are,” Fitch said. “We don’t cognize what nan effect of invasive type is. We don’t cognize what nan effect of drought is.”

Both existent and imaginable early policies coming problems, he added.

Clearcut logging reduces nan expertise of watersheds to modulate watercourse flows. Irrigation demands proceed to increase, while regulators contemplate thirsty caller industries, specified arsenic ember mining.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s organization is increasing rapidly. That brings demands for much drinking h2o and amended flood protection arsenic ambiance alteration makes utmost upwind events much common.

New dams, which would further isolate sturgeon populations, are backmost successful nan conversation. The state is considering projects connected nan Red Deer and Bow rivers, arsenic good arsenic a weir connected nan South Saskatchewan.

“We’re not done reasoning astir dams,” Fitch said. “If those dams are built, they would further truncate reservoir sturgeon populations into smaller and smaller units.”

A 2002 feasibility study for nan Meridian Dam, a now-abandoned task erstwhile projected for nan westbound broadside of nan Saskatchewan-Alberta bound connected nan South Saskatchewan River, acknowledged that dams and reservoirs could impact sturgeon. The study recovered specified structures could artifact food movement, trim disposable nutrient and limit spawning sites.

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“The consequences of blocking food movements successful this conception of nan South Saskatchewan River are significant, because type specified arsenic reservoir sturgeon, walleye and sauger whitethorn beryllium isolated from 1 aliases much captious habitats,” it says.

Ryan Fournier of Alberta Environment and Protected Areas said nan state is moving to amended h2o retention and management, particularly successful confederate Alberta.

In an email, he said astir $10 cardinal successful feasibility studies are underway for nan projected Eyremore Dam connected nan little Bow River adjacent Bassano and nan Ardley Dam eastbound of Red Deer connected nan Red Deer River. Both dams are successful sturgeon habitat.

“A provincewide reappraisal is besides underway to find different areas wherever caller h2o retention projects would beryllium astir beneficial,” he said. “We are taking a whole-government attack to maintaining provincial h2o guidance infrastructure systems to make judge Albertans person a safe, reliable h2o supply.”

Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson has said biology concerns would beryllium addressed successful nan studies.

Alberta would do amended to effort and curtail h2o request alternatively of counting connected greater proviso — particularly arsenic ambiance alteration threatens to make nan Prairies drier and hotter, Fitch said.

“If we proceed to exacerbate nan request side, we will proceed to (try to) outrun ambiance alteration pinch reservoir construction. And we’re going to lose.”

Sturgeon, which person already survived truthful much, will transportation connected if fixed a chance, said Fitch.

“This is simply a critter that outstrips quality history, that outstrips nan history of a batch of surviving things. The truth we still person them swimming successful our rivers is simply a testament to their expertise to endure.”