Wednesday, October 23, 2013

New York Sturgeon

State environmental officials hope to restore the sturgeon population in the region.
 It’s a windy, morning on the St. Lawrence and the rain has just let up. Biologists, anglers, and D.E.C. guys cluster at the Ogdensburg boat launch. They peer over massive coolers that hold thousands of baby sturgeon, called fingerlings.
Tom Brooking is a fisheries biologist with Cornell. He lives in Syracuse and is part of the volunteer group New York Sturgeon for Tomorrow. He tells me to pick one up. The fish flops around in my hand. It's brown, with delicate fins and a sharp spine. You wouldn’t think it, but these little fish will grow to be 3-5 feet long