Tag Archives: robichaud

Surging Sturgeon Success Story – by Laurent Robichaud, Friends of Grassy River

By Linda Heron on Monday, November 25th, 2013
Posted in Fish Bypass, Fish/Eel Mitigation & Recovery, Lake Sturgeon, Media, Presentations, Species at Risk, Studies & Reports

Below is a presentation made to the Ontario Rivers Alliance at their Annual General Meeting on 23 November 2013.  Check out the notes below as well.

Download (PDF, 6.59MB)

This document is a collection of events and recent developments related to the re-introduction of Lake Sturgeon in the Upper Reach of the Mattagami River near Timmins Ontario.

It was back in 2002 that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources approached Club Navigateur La Ronde and the Timmins Fur Council to be partners on a project to re-establish lake sturgeon population in the upper reach of the Mattagami River near Timmins Ontario. In the Lands and Forest archives of the early 1900s were records of sturgeon spawning activity observed at Wawaitin Falls by a conservation officer of those early years of the Porcupine mining camp. Log drives, dam construction and subsequent operation combined with fisheries led to population drops to unsustainable levels. Continue reading →

Surge in Sturgeon – Great work Larry!!

By Linda Heron on Saturday, August 3rd, 2013
Posted in Lake Sturgeon, Mattagami River, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk
By Benjamin Aubé

TIMMINS – Call it the Timmins version of Jurassic Park.

An ancient creature that once lived alongside the dinosaurs is slowly returning to the Mattagami River, an area where it once thrived.

A century ago, when settlers first set up shop in what became the Porcupine mining camp, lake sturgeon measuring up to six feet and living over 100 years were not uncommon in the area.

But due to increased industrial activity, overfishing and a general lack of knowledge on the subject, the once-thriving local population of the fish nearly disappeared.

Recently, lake sturgeon in the entire southern Hudson Bay drainage basin have been designated as a species of “special concern.”

In 2002, various local community and conservation groups concerned about the giant fish’s endangered status and apparent disappearance from the region put their minds together and started the Mattagami Sturgeon Restoration Project.

Continue reading →