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Radio
Tagging
Many
stugeon were radio tagged in the Nechako River , from 1995
to 2003. Several sturgeon were also radio tagged in
the Stuart River and Stuart Lake in 2002. Each radio tag has
a unique radio frequency signal that it sends out. The frequencies
sent out by these tags can be detected by researchers using
antennas and a receiver unit from a boat, a plane, or the
ground. The purpose of this “radio telemetry” work is to determine:
- Movement
patterns and habitats utilized by sturgeon of different
ages, sizes and sexual maturity at different times of the
year.
Why?
When
tracking the fish's unique radio frequencies, they can better
understand:
- Why a fish may be moving to certain
locations at certain times of the year.
- Determine factors that control the
Nechako White sturgeon’s spawning behaviors.
- Determine behaviors, and specific
habitat required by the sturgeon.
The
Recovery Initiative has established several stations along
the Nechako River that can detect if a tagged fish has passed
the site and what direction it was moving. Researchers monitored
the tagged fish in the spring of 2004 what led them to discover
a spawning event.
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