| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Two sampling sessions were undertaken in the Nechako River in 2005; the first from August 29 to September 3 and the second from September 26 to 30. Sampling took place from rkm 134 (east of Vanderhoof) downstream to rkm 90.2 (at the Stuart River confluence) during each session. Standardized experimental-type small mesh gillnets were deployed throughout a range of habitat types within the study area. Each 37.2m2 gillnet panel consisted of a (stretched) mesh size of either 3.81cm, 5.08cm, 6.35cm, 7.6cm, or 8.9cm. The majority of panels deployed were comprised of a monofilament mesh, however white cotton gillnet panels were also utilized. Deployed nets were comprised of 1 to 3 panels, subject to conditions at the sampling location and the habitat type observed by field crews. Sampling effort in the first and second sessions resulted in 276.7 and 288.3 panel-hours respectively. A total of 9 “juvenile” white sturgeon between 70.5 cm and 126.5 cm total length were captured, three of which were re-captures. In addition, 1 adult sturgeon of 184 cm total length was captured. All basic morphological information was collected. All “new” fish received Floy and PIT tags, and three “new” juvenile sturgeon received internal radio tags. All sturgeon appeared to be healthy both at the time of capture and release. The 6 “new” juvenile sturgeon were aged at between 10 and 18 years. The “new” adult sturgeon captured was aged at 41 years. Juvenile sturgeon were captured throughout 33 km of the 43.8 km study area length, and capture depths of juvenile sturgeon varied from 3.2 m to 6.5 m. |
