By Brent Wittmeier, Postmedia News
Its whisker-like barbels are evident as this teen lake sturgeon floats in a sling that lets it be weighed and measured.
Photograph by: Shaughn Butts, Postmedia News. In a snapshot retrieved from his cellphone, Owen Watkins is grinning,
his arms wrapped around a sleepy, slightly inebriated friend.
The
stupefication of his 44-year-old buddy is understandable: Watkins heaved
him from the North Saskatchewan River, placed him in a water bath full
of dissolved anesthetic, then performed minor abdominal surgery to
insert a knucklelength transmitter. A few seconds after the photo, the
fisheries biologist returned the 35-kilogram fish to the current.Lake sturgeon haven't really changed in 200 million years of evolution, can outlive any human and balloon to nearly 100 kilograms and a length of more than two metres. But after decades of pollution, damming and fishing, only an estimated 6,300 remain in the North Saskatchewan River. Most are pre-adolescents, not even old enough to spawn...Continue reading...
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