Wabash is a sturgeon's 'Lovers' Lane'

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The Lafayette area of the Wabash River has turned into quite a 'Lovers' Lane' for one species of fish that dates back to the days of the dinosaurs.

The Department of Natural Resources is tracking shovelnose sturgeon as they come from hundreds of miles away to spawn in the Lafayette-West Lafayette area.

DNR Big River Fisheries Biologist Tom Stefanavage and his team have been fishing for shovelnose sturgeon on the Wabash in the Lafayette area since April.

"This area here is approximately river mile 313 on the Wabash, and a lot of the shovelnose from hundreds of miles downstream swim to this area to spawn on these beautiful gravel bars that we have here," said Stefanavage.

From mid-April to late June, Stefanavage used electro-fishing and drift nets to capture thousands of sturgeon.

He concentrated those techniques around sand and gravel bars until as many sturgeon as possible were captured.

After a quick stay in a holding tank, the fish were measured, weighed, clipped for tissue samples, tagged, and released.

Stefanavage said he has recaptured several fish already tagged years ago and from hundreds of miles away.

"We have collected a handful of fish up here at river mile 313 and 320 that were tagged downriver in the New Harmony, Indiana area and Posey County, Gibson County, river mile 50, so it is very possible that some of these fish actually live most of the year in the Ohio River and come up here to spawn," said Stefanavage.

Stefanavage said most shovelnose only reproduce every 3 years, so it is important to keep track of their numbers, given their commercial value.   A five pound fish might be carrying about a pound of eggs, which are worth $1200 to $2000 as caviar.

Stefanavage said it is difficult to tell just how strong the shovelnose population in the Wabash is, but research on this unusual-looking fish continues to be important throughout the country.

"The Wabash River is the easternmost stronghold of the shovelnose sturgeon in the United States," said Stefanavage. "We're working with the states of Ohio and West Virginia. We're providing them brood-stock, so they can try to re-establish populations that they had 100 plus years ago, and lost. So it's very important that we keep close tabs on this population and make sure it is strong."

Stefanavage said data collected on the shovelnose sturgeon in the Wabash could help researchers revive the population of the Pallid sturgeon, an endangered fish found in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

The United States Geological Survey and Purdue University are also studying shovelnose sturgeon in the Wabash River.