SHIOCTON, Wis. — Each spring, sturgeon swim upstream to spawn along the wolf river shoreline. It offers a rare opportunity to see these unique fish up close.
“Families from all over the state will come and look at 300-400 sturgeon spawning,” Wisconsin DNR Regional Conservation Warden Ben Treml said.
Historically, it was also an opportunity for poachers to take sturgeon at their most vulnerable time. Female sturgeon carry prized eggs that can be made into caviar. In 1988, the Sturgeon Guard was formed to keep the population safe.
“Prior to that, wardens from all over the state would deploy to this river to protect the sturgeon,” said Treml. “Eventually, other department employees would help sit on those locations where the sturgeon are spawning so the wardens could be out and patrol. It transitioned to volunteers.”
Treml said there haven’t been significant poaching cases in the last 20 years.
“From where it was in the 80s to where we’ve come today, it was by far a successful program,” said Treml. The community embraced these fish, and we have little to no enforcement cases with sturgeon. Over the last ten years or so, we saw the volunteers decline in numbers, especially at night. When COVID-19 happened, we didn’t have a Sturgeon Guard, and right before Covid, we transitioned into a more education/PR model.”
In addition, Treml said the lack of staff and resources to organize the sturgeon guard led to the decision to end the program.
It’s not sitting well with everyone.
“I heard that it’s done now, which I disagree,” said Seth Kaspar of Oshkosh.
Sturgeon spearing is a family tradition for Kaspar. He speared his first 100-pound fish this past season. His father also speared one.
Kaspar, along with Courtney and Remi Goetzke, took in the sturgeon scene at Bamboo Bend in Shiocton.
“You don’t realize how many fish are in the system until you come up here and see it,” said Kaspar. “We all had a really successful spearing year this year. That was a lot of fun, but it’s just a good time to come up here and see the fish up-close and in-person.”
Kaspar wants to see the sturgeon protected. Treml said they’ll see how it goes.
“It’s something that we can always revisit," explained Treml. "We have wardens that are on patrol, and we’re making sure that this resource is protected like any other.”
Treml said the DNR's tip hotline is always open and they'll respond to any suspicious activity.
“If there’s an increase in enforcement cases or there’s another club or organization that would like to take the sturgeon guard program on, we’d be happy to partner with them," said Treml. "We have the model that has been successful.”
But for now, the Sturgeon Guard’s watch is over.