Growth and reproduction of the lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens rafinesque) of the Nelson River in Manitoba ...

• Main Author: Sunde, Leif Axel
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: Nelson River
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0105664; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0105664

Depletion of Nelson River sturgeon through over-exploitation by the commercial fishery forced two closures of this fishery between 1921 and 1946. These failures prompted a program of biological research to determine rates of growth, reproduction and increments to stocks to provide a basis for the scientific management of this economically important species of fish. From 1953 to 1956 and 1959, 791 sturgeon were sampled from the commercial catch in the Sipiwesk Lake area of the Nelson River. Preliminary studies were conducted to determine the best method of age determination and back-calculation of growth. It was concluded that the best cross-sections of pectoral "spines", for purposes of age determination and back-calculation of growth, were located at the proximal end of the spine at the base of the swelling which forms the "knuckle"of the spine. The easiest and best measurement on this cross-section for back-calculation of growth was along the radius of the spine from the centre of ossification to the ...