Chicken and Sturgeon Talk
Jun 3rd, 2008 by Laura
Thank you to everyone that commented on last night’s post. I’m still very bummed about the lost chicks, as much because it was my fault as for any other reason. The remaining birds seemed a bit uneasy last night but today were right back to their treat begging selves. They didn’t seem at all bummed to be locked in today. But then again it was pouring most of the day so they likely didn’t even notice.
To those that asked, I am looking into picking up a few Cuckoo Marans the same age as mine to fill in the flock. Seems like as long as we’ve got upheaval we may as well fill back in. The new chicks are coming from a guy I know that keeps hens on Eby Island - he actually took a couple of roosters for me about 18 months ago.
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In happier news, our freezer is home to some fresh sturgeon thanks to Mike’s fishing prowess.
He spent yesterday fishing on the Columbia River near the Astoria Bridge with friends. Each of them caught their limit of 1 legal sized sturgeon. They filleted them out at the boat launch so I didn’t get to see that 49″ fish in person, bummer!
Imported wild sturgeon is on the “avoid” list for sustainability and should be avoided in grocers and restaurants. That said, Washington and Oregon actively manage sport fishing of white sturgeon on the Columbia to ensure that the fish is protected from over harvesting and to continue to support population gains. Wild caught white sturgeon in Washington and Oregon is on the “good alternatives” list.
As far as I know I’d never tasted sturgeon before last night and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Turns out that there’s not that much meat on a sturgeon that “small” - maybe 8 lbs of fillets? Mike pan fried it with some spices and it was quite delicious. It’s essentially a very dense white fish and reminded me of tilapia or halibut.
As a side note, that is one seriously ugly fish if you ask me. I can see why they’re the stuff of prehistoric legends. If a 1000 lb. fish that looked like that came after me I’d think it was a monster too.
As noted in the sport fishing link above, sea lions are becoming an issue in maintaining populations as they move farther inland, hunting the fish in their traditional spawning grounds. Lest you think that’s just propaganda to blame the sea lions and seals, check out the photo that Mike took of one such swimming by with his afternoon snack…
While I was being tongue-in-cheek above, that tone is apparently not coming through. So look! A sea lion enjoying sturgeon too! One of my favorite things to see is seals and sea lions in their natural environment. I’ve never begrudged them their fish (and am surprised that others would!) and I liked this photo just for the coolness of it.
Oh! I’ve wanted some Cuckoo Marans. I think the eggs you mailordered for Phyllis included some, but I don’t think any made it to adulthood. How cool that you know someone raising some.
I’ve never really gone fishing or known people who go fishing, but it sure looks cool when Mike does it. Enjoy your catch.
I wanted to correct a misunderstanding about sea lions and the fish of the Columbia river. I am a wildlife biologist who is studying the interactions between sea lions, sturgeon, salmon, and other fish of the Columbia, and I have been dismayed by all of the misinformation out there. (Laura, you can be forgiven, as the media is filled with factual errors. This is not your fault!)
Contrary to popular belief, sea lions have always lived in the Columbia river, coming all the way up to Celilo falls. Historically, there were actually many more of them than there are now. (The reason people think there are more now is that they were hunted, nearly to extinction, in the 1800s and most of the 1900s. So few were seen for awhile. People wrongly think there is a “population explosion” of sea lions now, only because their numbers are just beginning to come back after it was made illegal to kill them with the passage of the MMPA in 1972. But historically, there were many more on the Columbia, without damaging fish populations.) They do, indeed, eat fish — including salmon and sturgeon. But, as with the relationship between any predator and prey, both species have co-evolved to account for this. The pressure of sea lion predation is actually a healthy influence in this ecosystem.
The reason for recent concerns about sea lions is that fish are disappearing from the waters, and people are grasping for something to blame. Sea lions are being erroneously scapegoated for the crisis. However, it is over-fishing, dams, and habitat destruction that are to blame for the crisis in large fish (not only here, but all over the world). Surprisingly, many of the clumsy and botched attempts made by Fish and Wildlife agencies to manage various populations of wildlife have made the situation much worse. (I could go into this at length, if anyone were interested.) In other words, the problems with sturgeon, salmon, and other fish on the Columbia are the direct result of human intervention into the ecosystem, and are not related to the presence of sea lions.
Quite often, I see photographs like the one you have posted here, of sea lions eating fish, that are apparently intended to “prove” that sea lions are responsible for damaging fish runs or causing the crisis of the Columbia. However, the only thing proven by such photos is that (surprise!) sea lions eat fish. If you scroll up just a little, you will see a human with a dead sturgeon as well. Does that “prove” anything? I mean, other than that this one person or sea lion killed this fish? I think not. But if you were to post pictures of all the fishermen on the columbia, and all of the commercial nets dragging behind boats, and all the fish being killed by the dams, then you would have a much better picture of what is actually happening to the important, keystone species of this bioregion.
Thanks for weighing in Dave. I appreciate your comments and insight. I don’t doubt that the sea lions have “always” lived there and I in no way intended to perpetuate any inaccurate myths. That said, I was simply trying to show both sides of the discussion and highlight that the sea lions are having an impact on the sturgeon population that they hadn’t had in recent years. It might not be the first time they’ve been in the area, but as you said yourself, they haven’t been recently.
I’m not at all surprised that the sea lions eat fish (really, people are suprised?!?) and obviously so do I. I linked to, and summarized, the information I did to reinforce to myself and readers that if you’re going to eat fish and/or go sport fishing, you should do your research before you go.
We have two cuckoo marans. They are smarter (in other words, they figure out how to get out of enclosed areas faster) than our buff orpingtons and very pretty. We got them because their eggs were advertised as being chocolate brown in color, but in reality are not much darker than the buffs. A medium brown. But still just as tasty!
Nice pictures! I want to reiterate what Dave said, though. I live on the Columbia river, and the sea lions belong here. Over-fishing is decimating local fish populations, and if you care about sustainability, we are asking people to please boycott all NW seafood, particularly salmon and sturgeon. Showing a photo of a sea lion eating fish in this context does feed into the myth that it’s somehow wrong or damaging to the environment for a sea lion to eat a fish. The media here has been perpetuating that myth, which is probably why Dave mentioned that.