Jason Arndt jarndt@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Jason Arndt Book author and science writer Kathleen Schmitt Kline explains the history of sturgeon to about a dozen residents at the library Thursday. The writer and member of the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute co-authored the book “People of the Sturgeon: Wisconsin’s Love Affair with an Ancient Fish.”
Even after the sturgeon spawning season, there were still about a dozen residents in attendance Thursday at a Shawano City-County Library presentation regarding the prehistoric fish.
Kathleen Schmitt Kline, co-author of the book “People of the Sturgeon: Wisconsin’s Love Affair with an Ancient Fish,” explained the history of the sturgeon, which goes back to ancient times.
“I had seen her speak at another conference in Green Bay, so I was aware of the presentation and I enjoyed it and thought it would be timely here,” said Mikki Moesch, tech services representative for the library. “I was very happy she came, I was very excited because I felt it would be something people would be interested in.”
Schmitt Kline, an outreach coordinator at the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, began writing the book alongside Department of Natural Resources sturgeon biologist Ronald M. Bruch and senior scientist Frederick P. Binkowski of the Wisconsin Great Lakes WATER Institute.
Her historical research gave her insight on the Native American connection, origins of sturgeon spearing season and the development of nonprofit agency Sturgeon For Tomorrow.
“I knew a little bit about sturgeon but the more I learned about it from the two scientists, the more I wanted to write about them,” Schmitt Kline said. “They are such a cool fish, they have been around for a couple million years, so they are kind of unlike any other fish that we have in Wisconsin.”
She noted Native Americans initially conceived the idea of sturgeon spearing and demonstrated the methods to residents surrounding the Lake Winnebago region more than a century ago.
The DNR began tagging sturgeon in the 1950s to monitor the fish population after the species endured substantial population loss, Schmitt Kline said.
Sturgeon For Tomorrow was developed in 1978 with a mission to conserve the fish’s population along the Lake Winnebago system, including the Wolf River.
During the 4-year process of gathering information, Schmitt Kline credited members of Sturgeon For Tomorrow, and her colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for assisting in the book published in 2009.
“We started talking with the members of Sturgeon For Tomorrow, and they were really excited about the book,” Schmitt Kline said. “They wanted to go out into the community and interview people, which is a big help, it takes a long time to interview all of the people involved.”
The interviews were transcribed at the UW-Madison, and are now stored at the Oshkosh Public Museum.
While it has been five years since Schmitt Kline last visited the Shawano dam during spawning season, she recalls the memories, and believes local residents should be proud of the unique ritual.
“It is really spectacular seeing the sturgeon spawning in Shawano, there is all the turbulent water, and you see these gigantic fish coming up and porpoising on the water,” she said. “It is very dramatic, it is much more dramatic than anywhere else along the Wolf River.”
Moesch agreed, citing the community’s enthusiasm during spawning season, which draws hundreds of people to the dam on an annual basis.
“Sturgeon are important to this community and in the spring when they are spawning, it is a well attended event,” Moesch “It is the right time for her to come out here.”