Page 17 - 2018 MAY/JUNE Outdoor Oklahoma

“None of the methods that worked in other parts of
the nation worked well in Oklahoma,” Johnston said. Sturgeon Fast Facts
Only five sturgeon were caught using traditional gear. • Shovelnose sturgeons are native to this area and
Instead, the team reached out to the U.S. Army Corp are referred to as “living fossils” because they
of Engineers and Southwestern Power Administration, have been around for about 100 million years.
Tulsa’s primary water management authorities, to slow • Shovelnose sturgeons are labeled a Species of
the discharge rates for the Arkansas River. “After a week- Special Concern in Oklahoma. Most biologists in
end of no discharge, we were able to find pockets of Oklahoma have never seen one, even though they
water that were relatively deep for the river – about 3 swim in the Arkansas River near Tulsa and in the
feet deep – that held a lot of sturgeon,” Johnston said. Red River below Lake Texoma.
Once the project’s 25 fish were captured, they were
temporarily held in a large tank at the Oklahoma • Shovelnose sturgeon eggs are marketed as
Aquarium in Jenks, just a stone’s throw from the study Hackleback caviar, mainly by commercial fisher-
site, until the next phase of the project. men on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
• Biologists had never studied the species in
Sounds of the Sand Oklahoma. The fish has become quite rare with
“We always knew it would be hard to track our stur- the increase of dams on many state rivers during
geon in the Arkansas River,” Johnston said. “When you the 1900s.
pair the naturally salty conditions of the river with the
sturgeon’s tendency to hang out on the bottom, the tra- • The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
ditional radio-telemetry equipment used to track ani- began studying the species in the Arkansas River
mals isn’t an option.” because of a proposal to put an additional low-water
Enter Gene Parker, a doctor of veterinary medicine dam in the Tulsa area. Biologists were looking at the
with Oklahoma State University. Parker has helped the sturgeon’s distribution and what these fish require to
Wildlife Department with other fish-tracking projects persevere in Oklahoma.

COLiN BErG/ODWC

The shovelnose sturgeon’s scutes along its sides and back are clearly visible in this view. Scutes are bony external plates, and their appearance
gives the fish the nickname of “hackleback.”

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