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[Excerpt: Local Knowledge of Columbia River Fisheries in BC, Canada, June 2001] In the early days of settlement, few people of the Columbia area [from US-border to Castlegar] fished for sturgeon as salmon, char, and trout were preferred. Before the dams, people considered this section of river as "big water" and difficult to access. Local residents generally fished where they could walk or bike, which meant that they often fished tributaries like the Salmo & Slocan rivers. - (Photo courtesy Rena Vandenbos)

Men with large white sturgeon

While there are no early documented sturgeon catches in the upper Columbia River, they were undoubtedly present. Still it wasn't until the building of the first area dams in the 1920's when many large Columbia white sturgeon were observed and photographed for the first time. Several sturgeon were killed along the Kootenay River when blasting was used to divert water during construction. As dams became operational, other sturgeon succumbed when initially trying to pass through the gates. - (Photo courtesy Revelstoke Museum and Archives)

230-lb. white sturgeon captured at Arrowhead in 1918

Sturgeon were also captured during the construction of Waneta dam on the Pend d'Oreille River. In Sept 1953, the Trail Times documented with photos of sturgeon being blown from the Columbia River by a dynamite blast. Long time residents of that time who worked on the project back then, recalled these large sturgeon being over 10 feet in length in Waneta. - (Photo courtesy Trail Times)

462-lb. Columbia River white sturgeon captured at Waneta Dam, 1984


Sturgeon have a place in our communities and are the basis for many legends and folklore. Researchers visiting long time residents were told of teams of horses being needed to pull the sturgeon out and of rowboats, oared by the strongest men, being towed around for days. - (Photo courtesy Nelson Museum)

255-lb. white sturgeon captured in 1944 near Brilliant Dam
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