Habitat Use

• Lake sturgeon use a variety of habitats at different times throughout their life. Spawners prefer fast water over cobble, boulders or bedrock. Other life stages use slower water, often foraging over sandy bottom.
• In the Saskatchewan River little is known about how lake sturgeon use the habitat available to them, with the exception of spawning sites.
• Traditional knowledge and recent studies have shown that Saskatchewan River sturgeon spawn at several sites including Bigstone Rapids, the Torch River and below E.B. Campbell Dam.
• To understand how sturgeon use the Saskatchewan River during and after spawning, SRSMB members conducted sturgeon tagging and tracking studies between 1994 and 1997:
  • 1994-1997 Spawning Habitat and Tagging Study - SERM F&W Tech Report 99-3.pdf
  • 1994-1997 Radio-tracking and Index Fishing Study - SERM F&W Tech Report 99-4.pdf
• They found that:
  • Sturgeon move between Manitoba and Saskatchewan and show considerable overlap in areas used by those tagged at different spawning sites.
  • Most mature-size fish tagged near spawning sites in Saskatchewan moved downstream after spawning season.
  • Juvenile sturgeon tagged in Manitoba tended to move some distance upstream and remain there.
  • Sturgeon were tracked primarily in the mainstem of the river with longest individual movements of 74 km upstream and 89 km downstream.