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Sturgeon


Leon Roskilly

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INFORMATION

CONTACT: Alan Brothers,

Public Relations Officer.


01273 471 496 / 07957 870 616



Date: September 8 2013



Caviar anyone? That just might be a sturgeon you’ve hooked from a beach in Kent or Sussex


Sea anglers and commercial fishermen all along the Kent and Sussex coasts are being asked from today to watch out for one of the most unusual catches they may ever make - a sturgeon.


It is one of the most protected fish in the world and the eggs of the beluga species are served as caviar.


There are no records of sturgeon ever being caught in Kent. The last one in Sussex was 22 years ago by a trawler five miles off Rye harbour. The first record of one being taken in the county was nearly 50 years ago in 1964 from Bosham Harbour but it is not known how it was caught. The only other record is one caught nine miles off Worthing in 1986 also by a trawler.


The sturgeon alert which covers all coasts in England and Wales was sparked after one of two boys fishing at Hobbs Point, near Pembroke Dock, South Wales on August 2 hooked one about a metre long (3 feet).


“We are sure from the only photograph taken of this fish at Pembroke Dock that it was a sturgeon and that it may be the forerunner of others arriving here. Where it came from is at present a mystery,” said Steve Colclough of the Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM).

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The last of these fish reported in UK waters was nine years ago when one 2.6 metres (8 feet 6 inches) long was caught in June 2004 also in South Wales by a trawler 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) off Port Talbot.


“It is illegal to retain sturgeon and anybody catching one should return it quickly unharmed and alive to the water and then report it.” said Mr. Colclough who is chairman of the IFM marine section. “Before putting it back they should note as many facts as possible - its length, overall condition, signs of damage or disease, the data on any tag attached to it and take a good photo.


“A yellow tag would show the fish had probably migrated from the Gironde river in France where the European sturgeon is now being bred and released.”


The fish would normally stay in the Gironde until they were about ten years old and they might then migrate to the open sea, Mr. Colclough added.


“If they came to the UK they would most likely be caught in estuaries and still be juvenile fish. Normally they would live 50 or 60 years and grow up to three-metres long (about 10 feet).”


Anglers and commercial fishermen should report any sturgeon caught to the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) at Shoreham on 01273 454407, or to the Kent and Essex IFCA tat Ramsgate on 01843 585 310 or to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) on 01502 562 244 at Lowestoft.


Mr. Colclough would also like to hear from them on 01634 686460 or by e-mail to srcifm@gmail.com.


END



Note to editors: Steve Colclough has been studying sturgeon for the past decade and has a database of UK catches from 1850. He represented the UK six years ago in a European Bern Convention meeting to conserve the last population of the European sturgeon, Acipenser sturio, (also known as the common or sea sturgeon) in the Gironde river in France.


2013/15 September 8 2013



Institute of Fisheries Management

PO Box 679, Hull, HU5 9AX

United Kingdom

Executive Officer: John Gregory CEnv, FIFM


Telephone +44 (0) 1603 717059 Mobile/cell +44 (0)7432 658486

RNLI Shoreline Member

Member of the Angling Trust

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1/ “It is illegal to retain sturgeon and anybody catching one should return it quickly unharmed and alive to the water
2/ “Before putting it back they should note as many facts as possible - its length, overall condition, signs of damage or disease, the data on any tag attached to it and take a good photo.

There might be some practical difficulty in reconciling those two statements.....

 

Well done Chris, you just beat me to it ! As someone who has had several White Sturgeon well into three figures from British Colombia, I can say that every aspect of the fight by Alec Allen in 1933 rings true. It's strange that Colclough didn't mention Allen's fish

Edited by Vagabond

 

 

RNLI Governor

 

World species 471 : UK species 105 : English species 95 .

Certhia's world species - 215

Eclectic "husband and wife combined" world species 501

 

"Nothing matters very much, few things matter at all" - Plato

...only things like fresh bait and cold beer...

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That Welsh fish looks several hours dead.

 

I just wish that comercials would stock native Atlantic Sturgeon over their Asian relatives. At least that way, any esaopees would bolster critically threatened stocks rather than being a treat to native species.

Species caught in 2020: Barbel. European Eel. Bleak. Perch. Pike.

Species caught in 2019: Pike. Bream. Tench. Chub. Common Carp. European Eel. Barbel. Bleak. Dace.

Species caught in 2018: Perch. Bream. Rainbow Trout. Brown Trout. Chub. Roach. Carp. European Eel.

Species caught in 2017: Siamese carp. Striped catfish. Rohu. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Black Minnow Shark. Perch. Chub. Brown Trout. Pike. Bream. Roach. Rudd. Bleak. Common Carp.

Species caught in 2016: Siamese carp. Jullien's golden carp. Striped catfish. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Alligator gar. Rohu. Black Minnow Shark. Roach, Bream, Perch, Ballan Wrasse. Rudd. Common Carp. Pike. Zander. Chub. Bleak.

Species caught in 2015: Brown Trout. Roach. Bream. Terrapin. Eel. Barbel. Pike. Chub.

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