Man Finds -- and Kills -- 100-Year-Old Fish

[Vicious_Fish]

Man Finds -- and Kills -- 100-Year-Old Fish

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/02/15/man-finds-kills-year-old-fish/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fscitech+%2528Te xt+-+SciTech%2529

[xsdbs]

now that's a lot of sushi there

[toddnbecka]

Look, it's a huge fish that I can't possibly eat or afford to have mounted. I think I'll kill it just for fun. :drool:

[excuzzzeme]

That's real sad that something that old is killed for sport.

[naliel]

Way to go guy.
If he wanted to kill something really old he could spear his own mother!!!!

[jbradt]

Now all the young fish in his neighborhood will be playing on his lawn... sad.

[Stargazer53]

*sigh* C'est la vie. And the articles notes that the sturgeon population is just now beginning to show some signs of recovery. What a shame and loss of legacy. :(

[Vicious_Fish]

It is a shame to kill such an old fish but I'm guessing that fish is past it's prime and might not even contribute to the breeding population anymore.

[toddnbecka]

Actually, a female sturgeon that size would lay thousands of even hundreds of thousands of eggs.

[svaha]

That is a shame

[Star_Rider]

we have open seasons for sturgeon here. the min size is 38" with a max size 54"
it does vary a bit depending on location on the Columbia.

btw, we have white sturgeon here and the white sturgeon can get as large as 20' weighing in at a whopping 2000#'s

[lousybreed]

Another great example of an inbred wisconsinite! How could you kill something like that? Why the hell is it legal to kill something that big? The should have a slot limit to protect the old girls.

[Tay690]

Wow that makes me angry...
"The sturgeon population is just recovering" and this bonehead decides to throw a spear at one

No room for catch and release there -_-

Sturgeon are like dinosaurs...they're like the biggest prehistoric fish in freshwater

Sad what some people do for kicks these days...

[fishcatch22]

I agree, they should make size maximums as well, huge old sturgeon like that are too vital to restoring the population since they lay so many eggs. Nothing wrong with fishing, its just that fish like that lay way more eggs than your run-of-mill sturgeon.

[Reframer]

I don't personally like hunting for pleasure, and think this is very sad, but it is possible that he did not see how big it was until after he had speared it and brought it up to the surface.

[Troycool]

why would you kill it...I dont understand...

[Likestofish]

He is a icefisherman who spent 43 years of his life doing this. It was not for sport but food. It was done legally. Also it was from lake Winnebago which has a thriving population of sturgeon.

[Troycool]

He is a icefisherman who spent 43 years of his life doing this. It was not for sport but food. It was done legally. Also it was from lake Winnebago which has a thriving population of sturgeon.

...oh...so he ate it....

[fish-n-chips]

Being an avid fisherman along with enjoying fish keeping this is a touchy topic for me . I have very few positive things to say about the WI D.N.R but the sturgeon issue is one thing that they are staying on top of and doing a very good job maintaining agood stock to ensure the species. They lowered the minimum size limit to aid in larger females chance of survival. In addition to that they set Quotas on the amount of juvenile females, adult females and adult males that can be harvested during each season. If any of those quotas come to 90% they season closes the next day, if 100% of any quota is met, the season closes that day. Also during their spawning season, the grounds that they spawn at are guarded 24-7 to prevent poachers from illegally taking any fish. This has all led to an increase in their population. Some seasons only last one day some go the full 10 days. They sold over 10,000 licenses this past year so only about 15% got a sturgeon.
I do not spear and have no desire to do so. I don't necessarily agree with the season and I don't agree with the walleye spearing during their spawning either. I have seen boats with 200+ female walleye in it and that is not done the traditional way either but with 1 million candlelight lights instead of torches as was done 200 years ago. But both are legal and must be done legally.
Fish and seafood are a source of food and as long as it is done without decimating a species, I don't see a problem with it. Maybe I feel this way because I enjoy fishing and live in Wisconsin, although I'm not inbred and don't come from Wisconsin. Responsibility is the key to harvesting and maintaining all species, in water and on land as well. I hope that this comment does not cause to much conflict, but I wanted to give my opinion and also supply some facts about thespearing and regulations for doing so.
P.S. I love to go every year to see these beautiful fish spawning, it is truly a breathtaking sight, and every year I root for the sturgeon to stay away from the sturgeon spearers.

[jpappy789]

If it's done legally and tastefully, I see no problem. The population in question is far from being in trouble.

[dirtydawg10]

It's illegal to take sturgeon here in CT...but if it was done legally I see no problem with taking one.

[Turbosaurus]

They sold over 10,000 licenses this past year so only about 15% got a sturgeon.


Thanks for the great info fish-n-chips. My first reponse to the article was kneejerk- what a bozo! But on further contemplation, with some good info from an informed "wisconsinite" who may or may not be inbred as suggested by someone with a more urban sense of ignorance (hope you can appriciate the irony Fish-n-chips;)) its fine by me. What better fish to kill than the one who has lived sucessfully and, I assume, spawned each season for 100 years?

They are selling the licenses, and the money from the licenses can support the cost of widlife agents to restrict poaching. Its got to be paid for somehow- and this seems like a great solution.

Its a sad ending to a long life, but really, when is it not?

[Tay690]

If the population is thriving ... maybe they should relocate a few to areas that are almost extinct?

Here around Toronto (Zone 17)
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR_E001336.pdf

There is absolutely no open season for these prehistoric monsters

So by all means...if it's thriving...ship em up this way

I myself won't partake in "Spearing" a fish in my lifetime even if it was legal for xx amount of time...unless I was lost in the wild and had absolutely no other source of food...

Send some of those beauties up here and give us a chance to hook a prehistoric monsters and release him ALIVE and HEALTHY...without a freakin' hole in its side

The thing that irks me the most about this is the fact that there are limits...minimum and maximum length

Suppose you spear a fish that from shore and about a distance of 15 feet away seemed like it was within' a reasonable range to "Spear"...then you end up dragging it out of the water...beaching the fish to measure it and OH NO!!!! IT'S TOO BIG TO KEEP!!! I GUESS I HAVE TO THROW IT BACK

What chance does that fish with a hole the size of a golf ball straight through one side and out the other...actually have to survive after being released

[jpappy789]

Spearfishing is not exactly like ice fishing.


There is also an annual sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. It has changed from a 16 day season in the past to a season with a marked quota, however, the season can still run for the full 16 days. If 90–99% of the quota is reached on any day the season is over at 12:30 pm the following day. If 100% (or more) of the quota is reached the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources can enable an emergency stoppage rule which would end spearing at 12:30 pm the day the quota is reached. Before the season structure was changed to protect this valuable resource spearers could fish from midnight on opening day to 11:59 pm on the 16th day of the season. Now spearers start at 6:30 am and have to stop for the day at 12:30 pm. During those six hours the fishermen look down a hole that is cut into the ice with chainsaws. The hole cannot exceed 48 sq ft (4.5 m2). In order to be harvested the sturgeon must be at least 36 inches.[1] The largest sturgeon ever harvested on Lake Winnebago weighed 212.2 pounds, measured 84.2 inches in length and was speared by Ron Grishaber in 2010.

[daclozer]

Very sad to kill something just to show off and be able to say you killed it. Take a friggin picture and release it. I spend a lot of time in the FLorida Keys and I see the old pics of people with massive dead jewfish in the hundreds of pounds. THey are no good to eat at that size, they just killed them to take a picture of them and then they throw the carcass back in the ocean. THey nearly wiped them out, new they are overprotected and the jewfish is decimating every other species on the reefs..

[captmicha]

How sad. Spear fishing is cruel. What a tragic end to a long life. You would think that something that old would die in a natural way, not with a stupid spear taking a chunk out of it's side.

[Lowryder]

I see nothing wrong with what the man did, as long as he uses the fish for food. If I caught a monster fish, I would keep it there is no doubt about that. As for spear fishing being "inhumane" thats not the case. With a fish that large you have one chance to kill it and thats it, better make your first shot count. I think it was more humane than if he would have caught that with rod and reel and fought for hours pulling on that fishes jaw and than being gaffed.

[captmicha]

That's not really the point. The point is that you don't see 100 year old fish everyday. It's like, wow, here's something really special that we may not see again for a long time. For some reason, I have to put an end to it.

[Lowryder]

Did he know it was a 100 yrear old fish?

[captmicha]

He must have had to have assumed that a fish of that size would be of an impressive age.

[stephenpence]

If the population is thriving ... maybe they should relocate a few to areas that are almost extinct?

Here around Toronto (Zone 17)
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR_E001336.pdf

There is absolutely no open season for these prehistoric monsters

So by all means...if it's thriving...ship em up this way

I myself won't partake in "Spearing" a fish in my lifetime even if it was legal for xx amount of time...unless I was lost in the wild and had absolutely no other source of food...

Send some of those beauties up here and give us a chance to hook a prehistoric monsters and release him ALIVE and HEALTHY...without a freakin' hole in its side

The thing that irks me the most about this is the fact that there are limits...minimum and maximum length

Suppose you spear a fish that from shore and about a distance of 15 feet away seemed like it was within' a reasonable range to "Spear"...then you end up dragging it out of the water...beaching the fish to measure it and OH NO!!!! IT'S TOO BIG TO KEEP!!! I GUESS I HAVE TO THROW IT BACK

What chance does that fish with a hole the size of a golf ball straight through one side and out the other...actually have to survive after being released

Really? first off, no max size in Wisconsin. that was Columbia i believe. Nobody ever said anything about "catch and release" for spear fishing. that would be ridiculous. and lets face it. if you can spear a fish from 15 feet on shore, you should be able to keep and mount it whatever it is!!. seriously if i speared a 6 inch brookie from 15' that baby would be on my wall.
that's not what's going on though. they are ICE FISHING. so the hole is cut, the fish swims past and they try and spear it. the only real way to make sure you're not spearing the illegal (under 36") fish is to only spear the ones that are obviously bigger. i would say that the fish in question falls into that category.
Fact of the matter is that they truly are thriving, alive and well in that area. and the fishing seasons are a vital aspect of that. the Game and Fish do a magnificent job of determining the ideal population for a lake and set the limits accordingly. Too many of any one species can be a much larger detriment than can a blind teenager that accidentally spears a 24" fish.
While yes, i agree it's sad to see this fish pass, it's sad to see ANY fish pass. I've yet to kill a fish in sport, or see a pet die, that i did not morn if only for a moment. (well, maybe not the salmon i hooked into in AK, they were going to die in a day or two anyways haha) but seriously, this is the sport. i say what better way for this monster to go out than to be immortalized forever. Congrats to this fisherman!

[deeleywoman]

this is why i can't bring myself to kill anything i catch =(

[fish-n-chips]

The sturgeon population here( I live less than 10 miles away) is thriving because of 2 main reasons. 1) tighter regulations have been enacted to help protect the species: setting lower harvest limits, lowering the min. length limit, and shortening the number of days and hours per day and 2) Sturgeon for tomorrow was founded to help educate, guard spawning grounds 24/7 during their spawning and by fundraising( vendors at spawning sites for one). If anyone wonders, most of SFT members are... spearers. I don't see animal cruelty people or anyone else that thinks it is inhumane to spear a fish volunteering to sit overnight for no money to protect this awesome fish. So whoever thinks it is wrong can come on up here and try to accomplish what these "cruel and heartless" spearers are doing to preserve this magnificent species. Also, anyone who wants more sturgeon in your area can send people over to learn what WE are doing right, insteadof expecting us in N.E WI to give away the fruits of our labor to people who can't or won't take the steps that have been taken by the DNR and SFT. Also, I see alot of posts are coming from areas where the water in river/lakes is suitable for raising only native glo-fish. So, do what has been done in my area and keep the water clean and clean up what is not. The lower fox river( below lake winnebago) is a superfund area that had MAJOR pollutants from paper mills but those same mills have had to pour out hundreds of millions of dollars to clean it up. Do, I sense envy from people who do not have the natural resources and aquatic life that is possessed in WI? The sportmen of this country love the fish and game that they pursue as much as anyone. I keep only a fraction of fish I catch and enjoy shooting wildlife more through a camera lens than a gun sight. And NO I don't spear so I'm not just trying to justify this sport. Spear a sturgeon from shore????:rofl::rofl::rofl:roflmao! Next spring I'll post some pics from the stugeon spawn .