A VERY WET SPRING AND SUCCESSFUL SPRING FIELDWORK
Last year, we had a very dry spring, and it was difficult to navigate up river to our field sites. At some points, it was so dry that the field team needed to winch the boat over the rocks!
This year, we had the opposite! It was a snowy winter, and a late spring, and we had lots of water for navigating to all of the sites where we needed to download the data from our submerged receivers, and to catch lake sturgeon. This made the work go much more smoothly for the research team.
The team was able to capture new lake sturgeon on the North French and Mattagami Rivers. The team took small samples of blood and tissues, which will go back to the lab, and be tested for health metrics, contaminants, and also to learn how the fish are related to one another. The fish were then released back into the rivers.
The team was also able to download the receivers that have been collecting data from tagged lake sturgeon. The team will now bring all of this new data back to the office to learn where the fish have been for the past year, and learn what the fish have been doing.
We were also able to bring youth out with the field research team! It was wonderful to be able to share the experience with youth, and learn from their perspectives. All in all, it was a very successful spring field season.
