White Sturgeon Facts

Sturgeon in the Columbia River can live to be over 100 years old. Sturgeon downstream of Bonneville Dam grow about three inches a year. Male sturgeon mature at around 4 feet or 13 to 14 years of age and female sturgeon mature at around 6 feet or 24 to 26 years of age. Sturgeon spawn in the late spring when water velocities historically peaked and temperatures reached 46 to 50 degrees. The eggs take about two weeks to hatch and the larva are disbursed downstream by the strong flow. Sturgeon have been tagged during research since the mid 1960s. Since 1982, a large scale tagging program has taken place in the lower Columbia downstream of Bonneville Dam. This has allowed researchers to determine abundance, harvest rates, and migration patterns. Sturgeon tagged in the Columbia River have been recovered as far north as the Fraser River in Canada and as far south as the Sacramento River in California. This tagging program was recently expanded to Washington and Oregon coastal areas. The future of this resource is in your hands. Please remember to handle any released oversize or sublegal sturgeon with care. It is especially important to keep all oversize fish in the water to prevent internal injuries.

Inches	Age	Inches	Age	Inches	Age
24	5.2	48	13.5	72	25.4
25	5.5	49	13.9	73	26.0
26	5.8	50	14.4	74	26.6
27	6.1	51	14.8	75	27.3
28	6.4	52	15.2	76	27.9
29	6.7	53	15.6	77	28.6
30	7.0	54	16.1	78	29.3
31	7.4	55	16.5	79	30.0
32	7.7	56	17.0	80	30.7
33	8.0	57	17.4	81	31.5
34	8.4	58	17.9	82	32.2
35	8.7	59	18.4	83	33.0
36	9.1	60	18.9	84	33.8
37	9.4	61	19.4	85	34.7
38	9.8	62	19.9	86	35.5
39	10.1	63	20.4	87	36.4
40	10.5	64	20.9	88	37.3
41	10.8	65	21.4	89	38.2
42	11.2	66	21.9	90	39.2
43	11.6	67	22.5	91	40.2
44	12.0	68	23.0	92	41.2
45	12.4	69	23.6	93	42.3
46	12.7	70	24.2	94	43.4
47	13.1	71	24.8	95	44.6