People of the Sturgeon

The voice of EarthWatch radio joins with Kathy Kline to share historical and biological information about sturgeon.

The group Sturgeon for Tomorrow raises money to support activities like the Sturgeon Guard, who patrol the Wolf River during spawning season. Through 2008, the group's five chapters have raised a whopping $750,000.

The Lake Winnebago sturgeon population avoided the overfishing issues that collapsed other sturgeon communities. Kathy Kline explains why.

"If you can carve duck decoys, carve me a sturgeon decoy." Appleton's George Schmidt, who carved his first sturgeon decoy way back in 1955, talks about his "hobby".

When can you have a spear in the fishing shack? Wisconsin's "Mr. Sturgeon," Ron Bruch, runs it down.

"The more you work with these critters, the more you love 'em." Despite a failed experiment in sturgeon-egg husbandry, the enthusiasm of Wisconsin fish biologists isn't dampened.

Vern Gebhart of Hilbert, Wisconsin carves sturgeon decoys as a hobby. As he notes, it takes 20 to 30 hours to make each one.

UW Sea Grant aquaculture specialist Fred Binkowski takes to the air, using radiotelemetry to track the movements and location of tagged sturgeon as part of a 25-year rehabilitation and restocking project.

The Menominee tribe's preferred strategy for spearing sturgeon, as described by a visiting Dominican missionary in the 1830s.

Why are fish populations regulated and controlled by the state? You'll understand after listening to this clip.