Sturgeon season quota exceeded during four hour season

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

The sturgeon were really moving under the frozen surface of Black Lake last Saturday, bringing the 2011 season to an abrupt end. The first sturgeon was taken at 8:02 a.m., and it would end up being the biggest at 73 pounds. The longest was 68.1 inches, which was the third fish.

The rest of the fish came at a fast and furious pace, until the seven-limit quota was reached ? and then some.

Conservation officers (COs) made their best efforts to update the hot line and contact the anglers spread out in every direction, but couldn?t stop four additional sturgeon from being taken.

It?s only the second year of a new system that doesn?t put any restrictions on who can participate. There were 330 anglers registered, which was up from 255 last year. The old system involved an unpopular lottery, in which only a select few could take part.

TIM CWALINSKI, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, fisheries management biologist, believed ?things went really well,? although ?we need to tweak the response.? That might mean having more volunteers involved, so when the quota is reached, the total fish count doesn?t go over.

?At 12:05 p.m., when we knew there were seven sturgeon harvested, COs were deployed to notify anglers the season was over,? said

Brenda Archambo, president Sturgeon for Tomorrow. ?At the same time, the fish started moving and the additional four sturgeon were harvested before CO?s reached those anglers. ?If anything?perhaps we need to assure a rapid response strategy, and successful anglers must notify the registration station immediately.?

Archambo added that the quota is set at 1.2% of estimated breeding adults. ?This is very, very low and compensates for potential overages. As a rule of thumb, five percent harvest is the general rule. The overages of the quota are still within the safety net in protecting the sturgeon stock.?

Native American results were not available. The tribal quota was set at seven.