Police search for anglers accused of illegally catching Oregon sturgeon

Oregon State Police officials said Friday they were seeking information about anglers accused of illegally catching an oversized sturgeon in a protected area of ​​the Columbia River and uploading a video of it to social media.

Police received a tip that an oversized sturgeon was illegally caught from the Columbia River overnight “within the protected sturgeon farming area in Umatilla County,” a press release said.

The incident occurred around May 9. A video of the event was posted on Snapchat with an orange and yellow maple leaf emoji under the username “Rodrigo.”

“In the incident, one person held the fishing rod to the fish while another person entered the water and pulled the sturgeon to shore. That person then lifted the sturgeon vertically by pushing his hands through the gills and out of the mouth. The injuries to the sturgeon's gills were almost certainly fatal,” the press release said.

In order to protect the breeding stocks, sturgeon fishing in the breeding protection area is prohibited from May 1 to August 31, officials said.

Male sturgeons cannot reproduce until they are about 137 cm long and about 10-15 years old; female sturgeons cannot reproduce until they are about 168 cm long or 15-25 years old.

“It takes many years for a sturgeon to reach the size needed to reproduce, and the sturgeon seen in the video appears to be over 6 feet long,” police said. Anyone with information is asked to contact Oregon State Police Dispatch at 1-800-452-7888, *OSP (*677), or email [email protected]. Please reference case number SP24-229621.