Endangered lake sturgeon thrives in Moose Cree First Nation

Lake sturgeon, a fish that goes back to the era of dinosaurs, has recently been labelled an endangered species.

The pre-historic fish is flagged as endangered, due to pollution and environmental destruction caused by industrial activity.

The Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada says one of the last places in the world where those fish thrive is in Moose Cree First Nation territory.

“The lake sturgeon’s status, globally, is much more threatened than we thought,” the group said.

With breeding schedules of up to seven years, the conservation society said the fish can’t keep up. And it said one of the last healthy homes for lake sturgeon are in the Hudson and James Bay lowlands.

“These watersheds are globally rare for lake sturgeon and are one of the last areas where these lake sturgeon are actually protected,” said the society’s Clair Farrell.

But even then, area First Nations are concerned about the impact of mining activity and. in the case of Moose Cree First Nation, hydroelectric dams.

The Moose River basin has 20 of them and the community is studying their safety for fish as they find their ancient waterways suddenly disrupted.

“You can tell by how they look on the other side of the dams, they don’t look as healthy,” said Jennifer Simard of Moose Cree First Nation.

“Some of them have big heads and really small bodies … we know it’s having an impact and, for us, that warrants enough to start taking action.”

Moose Cree and the conservation society partnered to create an initiative to research the impacts of hydroelectric dams.

Simard said she wants to work with Ontario Power Generation and private companies on solutions.

“How can these facilities be operated in a way that’s more respectful to the sturgeon?” she asked.

One idea, Simard said, could be to alternate operating hours of the dams to reduce disruption to the fish’s travel patterns.

There’s a bit of pressure to find a solution because at such a critical point in the species’ existence, the world could be watching.

“They’re going to be looking to us, to say, ‘Oh, what did they do to keep their population healthy,’” Simard said.

International attention to the Hudson and James Bay area is heightened now, after Ottawa’s recent $800 million conservation announcement.

Both groups said they hope lake sturgeon will ultimately benefit from that funding and that they’ll be in a better position to work with companies on protecting the area’s wildlife, including lake sturgeon.