NANFA-L-- Sturgeon CIty in NC

Fritz.Rohde-in-ncmail.net ("Fritz.Rohde-in-ncmail.net")
Mon, 29 May 2006 20:18:22 -0400 (EDT)

A clarification on Sturgeon City in NC, even though Michael, AKA
Moontanman, didn't rise and take the bait.

The city of Jacksonville, NC wastewater treatment plant for decades
emptied into Wilson Bay, a small pimple on the side of New River (the
other New River, a small coastal river that empties into the Atlantic
Ocean). Several years ago the city went to upland spraying and
decommisioned the plant. By this time Wilson Bay was declared a dead
area due to the umpteen millions of sludge and other material in it.
The city decided to clean up the bay using aerators (poor circulation)
and oysters. But what to do with the plant? Someone had the idea to
turn the structures into raceways and "bring back the sturgeon". So
they proceeded with full speed and named it Sturgeon City. Well, those
nasty ol' environmental agencies and goons that work for them (namely
me), pointed out to them that the occurrence of sturgeons in New River
was most likely accidental and transient and there was never any
evidence of the river being used for reproduction. In addition there
is strong resistance to willy nilly introducing sturgeon from other
river systems into "virgin" rivers. So their idea of having a sturgeon
hatchery was squashed. But they kept the name and have been doing good
work to restore water quality in the river. Recently, we had a dog and
pony show there because a fisherman alledgedly caught a sturgeon right
off of their docks. No photos, but an apparently credible witness.

On the flip side, a company recently got permission to raise Atlantic
sturgeon (from eggs from Canada) for sale-in-a hatchery near Hickory,
NC in the NC foothills.

More than you wanted to know?

Fritz Rohde
NC Div Marine Fisheries
Wilmington
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