Boston Fish Story Excites Biologists Across New England
While wild sturgeon sightings are rare, Vt. aquarium houses several
They're not the handsomest fish, but what sturgeon lack in good looks, they make up for with mystery. "The likelihood of someone seeing a sturgeon is really low," said Julie Silverman of the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center.
Three are in captivity inside ECHO on the Burlington, Vt. waterfront. The building's exterior is even decorated with likenesses of sturgeon. A wild one, recently photographed swimming in the Charles River in Boston, got biologists really excited. "Sturgeon are amazing fish," Silverman beamed.
Sturgeon are ancient fish. They've been around since before the time of the dinosaurs, and are shark-like, in that their bodies are made up of a lot of cartilage. While their numbers were once strong, scientists say sturgeon are now struggling for survival. Biologists blame the decline on over-fishing, pollution, and modern changes like the installation of dams in rivers. "We really want to protect them at all costs," Silverman added.
No one knows for sure, but the population of sturgeon in Lake Champlain may only be a few hundred. Many places, including Vermont, list them as an endangered species. That means they cannot be fished. Adding to the sturgeon's challenges, it takes them 25 years until they can reproduce. They only do so every few years.
Sturgeon can live more than a century and grow to be quite long and weigh hundreds of pounds, making some people think Lake Champlain's legendary resident, Champ the lake monster, is actually a sturgeon. Some monster sightings could possibly have been explained as a group of the bottom-feeders rising to the surface from their normal chilly depths to spawn. "Because of their size, they help us think about that mystery," said Phelan Fretz, the executive director of ECHO. "Could there be something else in the lake, like a Champ? I think the scientists would say no; I think a lot of folks would wish yes!"
ECHO calls the Boston sturgeon sighting extremely encouraging, and a reminder that communities in the Northeast shouldn't forget the value of environmental protection. Sturgeon may have hard armor on their backs, but all that cartilage can't protect them from dirty water or loss of habitat.
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