A study of sturgeon in Hells Canyon determined a significant portion of the long-lived fish have hooks and other fishing tackle in their digestive tracts, but they seem to be able to process and pass the metal without harm.
Fisheries biologists with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Idaho Power Company scanned more than 2,000 sturgeon with metal detectors and used a portable X-ray machine on about 450 of them to document the prevalence of fishing tackle in the bellies of the fish.
They found about 21 percent of the sturgeon they examined had tackle in their bellies. Many of the sturgeon were captured multiple times during the four-year project. Recaptured fish with fishing tackle in their systems passed the metal in about 492 days on average. Recaptured fish ingested new metal about every 575 days on average.
The study, published by the American Fisheries Society, showed that fish with metal in the digestive tracts weighed slightly less than sturgeon of the same size without metal. However, the differences in weights were slight, suggesting the metal may affect their ability to feed or process food but not to a degree that would harm them on a population level.
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