The largest fish we never see

When we think of the largest fish in the fraser river, we think of great chinook salmon, which may reach lengths of 3 feet, and weigh 20 pounds.  There are yet fish even larger than this - the white sturgeon.

Occasionally, they die (of either natural or manmade causes) and float downstream and may get tangled up in the lower-flow of the intertidal fraser.

Last year, a four foot specimen washed up not far from where I live. Knowing that sturgeon sometimes have tags in their heads, I notified the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society to see if they'd like to check it out.  Steve, a volunteer with the organization, came out the next day. The high tide left little room for us to access the fish, with thorny bramble on one side, and water on the other, but with some amount of bouldering, we were able to access the fish.  We were not only able to get some measurements (130cm long, 53 cm girth), but his handheld sensor located a PIT tag located in the head, that told us this fish had been caught before, near Maple Ridge in 2010.

Steve said that sturgeon are among the most studied fish in the world.  The Fraser river's proximity to major population centres, its historic fishing importance, it's large enough size for tracking individuals,  and a generally charismatic creature of the Fraser has made it a popular target of study.  For example, in 2020, nearly 4000 tagged sturgeon were captured, providing valuable data for conservation purposes.

For more information of the Fraser River sturgeon, including the tagging program, see here: https://www.frasersturgeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Lower-Fraser-Sturgeon-M-and-A-2020-Report_20211024.pdf