Outdoors

Beware of the jumping fish!

When two Brevard County teenagers set out to ride their personal watercraft on the Suwannee River this month, they remembered to wear their life jackets, but nobody told them to watch out for flying fish. ¶ Alli Katrick, 14, of Mims and Kori Snitker, 17, of Titusville received just a glancing blow from a 6-foot sturgeon. Had the fish hit them head-on, they might have wound up in the hospital like so many before them. ¶ State wildlife officials don't think the Suwannee's sturgeon population has a vendetta against water scooters. These prehistoric fish are doing what they have done for millions of years, jump. The only thing that has changed is that humans are now in the way.

By TERRY TOMALIN
Published July 18, 2007

When two Brevard County teenagers set out to ride their personal watercraft on the Suwannee River this month, they remembered to wear their life jackets, but nobody told them to watch out for flying fish. ¶ Alli Katrick, 14, of Mims and Kori Snitker, 17, of Titusville received just a glancing blow from a 6-foot sturgeon. Had the fish hit them head-on, they might have wound up in the hospital like so many before them. ¶ State wildlife officials don't think the Suwannee's sturgeon population has a vendetta against water scooters. These prehistoric fish are doing what they have done for millions of years, jump. The only thing that has changed is that humans are now in the way.

Salmon of the South

Sturgeons, like salmon, are anadromous, which means they migrate from saltwater to freshwater to spawn. These fish can reach lengths of 8 feet and weigh up to 200 pounds.

"There are 27 species of sturgeon in the world, and of those, 25 are considered threatened," said Dan Roberts, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. "Here in Florida they are found primarily in the Suwannee River, which has also become very popular with boaters and jet skiers, which is why they have been in the news lately."

Sturgeon spend the colder winter months in the Gulf of Mexico, then around March begin to move into the river, where they remain through the summer and fall.

"If it wasn't for all the springs on the Suwannee, we probably wouldn't have such a large population up there," Roberts explained. "Those springs are always 72, which gives the fish a cool-water refuge when it really gets hot."

Species in trouble

Gulf sturgeon can be found from Louisiana's Mississippi River to Florida's Suwannee River, although these strange-looking fish have been documented as far west as Texas and as far south as Florida Bay.

Florida's sturgeon population is concentrated in two rivers: the Apalachicola, where about 100 survive, and the Suwannee, which has roughly 2,250 to 3,000.

From 1900 to 1970, commercial fishermen on the Florida Panhandle hunted sturgeon in the Apalachicola River, but overharvesting, combined with loss of habitat, environmental degradation and widespread damming of rivers, prompted state officials to step in and shut down the harvest in 1984.

Living fossils

Sturgeons are a primitive species dating back 225-million years.

"These fish literally swam with the dinosaurs," Roberts said. "Throughout history, many cultures have used these fish. It is sad to think that after all this time they are in danger because of human activity."

One hundred years ago, sturgeon could be found throughout Tampa Bay. But nobody had seen a live sturgeon in more than 100 years, until March 2002 when one of these armor-plated fish washed up on Shore Acres.

Two years earlier, marine biologists had released nearly 50 gulf sturgeons into the Hillsborough River, but the one found in St. Petersburg was more than 5 feet long, far too big for a stocked fish.

At the time, Roberts told the Times: "This is a major find. It's the most spectacular specimen of a gulf sturgeon that I've ever seen."

High jumpers

Nobody knows for sure why all species of sturgeon jump.

"It could be to avoid predators or perhaps get rid of parasites," Roberts said. "Or then again, maybe they do it for the same reasons humans jump in water, because it's fun."

Sturgeon have always jumped, but it wasn't until humans started traveling waterways in large numbers that it became a problem. During colonial times, sturgeon were so plentiful in the Hudson River that the settlers considered them a "hazard to small boats."

In recent years these fish have made headlines as more and more people take to the waterways during the summer months. Last year set a record for sturgeon strikes, as eight people were hit on the Suwannee River.

But 2007 looks like it could be another record-breaker. On March 31, 50-year-old Sharon Touchton of St. Petersburg was knocked off her personal watercraft while traveling up river.

On June 10, a 32-year-old Bell woman was knocked unconscious by a sturgeon and taken to the hospital. Two weeks later, a fish jumped in a boat and broke a 6-year-old's leg. On July 1, a 14-year-old boy was badly cut by a jumping sturgeon. Then on July 5, Katrick and Snitker were hit.

"At this point last year, there were three documented strikes, with three injuries," the FWC's Maj. Bruce Hamlin said. "People need to be cautious when on the Suwannee. I cannot emphasize that enough."

Hamlin urged people to call 1-888-404-3922 toll-free to report sturgeon strikes. "We are mapping out the locations of each strike to determine jumping 'hot spots,' " Hamlin said.

[Last modified July 17, 2007, 23:31:48]