Tyler Buck and Jay Gibson, angling guides, pushed, tugged, and hauled the fish two kilometres. The Fraser Valley Angling Guides Association received a video showing it floundering in a tiny pool left behind by receding floodwaters from recent disastrous storms in British Columbia.
Due to the generous contributions and cardiac capacity of two angling guides who pushed, dragged, and hauled a flood-stranded sturgeon two kilometres to deep water, a flood-stranded sturgeon is finally back in the safe boundaries of the Fraser River’s main stem.
On Thursday, a helicopter team was flying near British Columbia’s Herrling Island, between Hope and Agassiz, and they found the sturgeon. Following the broadcast of the video, the FVAGA acted quickly, deploying two professional sturgeon guides, Tyler Buck and Jay Gibson, on an unprecedented catch-and-release operation.
“They were actually upriver performing trash collection and rubbish pickup when the call came in,” FVAGA director Kevin Estrada said. “They were ecstatic to be able to assist in any manner.”
“It swam away healthy and robust. And I’m sure they will see that fish again down the road at some time, “he stated. “Isn’t it true that sturgeon are tough as nails? They’ve lived through three ice ages and are extremely robust fish.” The Fraser River sturgeon fishery is a catch-and-release-only operation. The species is ancient, with a 65 million-year history.
The species is, nevertheless, vulnerable, and its numbers are dwindling.
Since the flood disaster two weeks ago, the non-profit Fraser River Angling Guides Association has been sailing upwards of 15 volunteer boats a day down the river. The main aim is carrying people, dogs, and livestock to safety and providing food, medication, and other supplies to families cut off from services.
Source: CBC News
