38 
STURGEON. 
Another important fish, though not utilised to any large extent, 
is the sturgeon, the roe of which, when salted, forms caviare, and 
the bladders are manufactured into isinglass. The Pacific Coast 
sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) enters the Fraser about the 
end of April, following up the oolachans, and spawn, although little 
or nothing is known about the period. They are taken by spearing 
or by night-lines, baited with salmon, and very often they are 
caught in the nets of the salmon fishers. They grow to enormous 
sizes, some of them weighing from 700 to goo pounds, and it is 
said that the largest caught weighed over 1,000 pounds, although 
it is not authenticated. There is a small local market for sturgeon. 
A company was formed several years ago at New Westminster 
for the purpose of catching and export, which was done in a limited 
way. Mr. C. B. Sword, Inspector of Fisheries for the Dominion in 
British Columbia, in his report for 1901, says, regarding them :— 
“ This fishery shows a very small return, 65,000 pounds against 
105,000 in I900, 278,650 pounds in 1899, 750,000 in 1898, and 
1,137,696 pounds in 1897. It would not appear that we are ever 
likely again to see this fishery of any commercial importance. The 
cold storage companies take all they can get, but the supply, 
especially of the larger fish, is very limited. Several illegal lines 
have been seized and destroyed, but the scarcity of the fish makes 
the employment of this method no longer so profitable as it once 
was, and comparatively few of these are now used. 
“There is no lack of small sturgeon in the river, so that the 
only reason for the failure of this fishery would seem to be the 
number of years that this fish takes to obtain its full growth. Until 
a market was found abroad for them, the local consumption was too 
small to affect their numbers, and many were taken of a size now 
rarely met with.” 
Sturgeon have also been taken in the interior lakes. 
The above figures show that the catch of sturgeon has 
decreased very rapidly. In 1903, the total catch was only 30,000 
pounds, and Mr. Sword says in his report for that year :— 
“This fishing is practically extinct. There are still fish of 
some size taken occasionally, but not enough for the local demand. 
There is no lack of young sturgeon in the river (Fraser), so that 
it would appear that the large fish, formerly so common, had taken 
years to reach their growth, and, with the increased demand, the 
fishing has been too energetically prosecuted to allow the time 
needed for their development.” 
