Over on the Suwannee River, there are so many sturgeon that boaters have to worry about colliding with them when they leap from the water. They are much more rare across the peninsula and farther south. That’s why Alex Gianniny, of Fort Pierce, was so surprised when he was called to identify another angler’s catch and found it was a big Atlantic Sturgeon. The fish was revived and released.
Gianniny’s discovery happened last summer at Taylor Creek in Fort Pierce. This spring and summer, there have been at least a couple more sturgeon encounters in the same region. An angler caught and released one from the same Taylor Creek spillway in July. In April, a dead sturgeon washed up behind a home on the St. Lucie River in Palm City.
Sturgeon are anadromous, which means they spend most of their time in saltwater and move into freshwater to spawn. They can live as long as 25 years and grow up to 300 pounds sucking up mollusks and other small bottom-dwelling critters. For this reason, sturgeon are rarely caught by anglers. They are encountered more frequently farther north but are very rare in south Florida.
So, while catches of Atlantic sturgeon are rare, they do occur. Anglers should know that all three species of sturgeon in Florida—Gulf, Atlantic and shortnose—are protected from harvest by state and federal law. If you are lucky enough to accidentally catch one, enjoy the fight, but handle the fish with care and release it immediately.