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harvestrestrictions andaquaculture programswith
limitedsuccess.
Sturgeonprovide obviouseconomic andscientif-
ic benefits. We believethat sturgeonalsoserve as
verylarge canaries in thecoal mine ofriverine eco-
systems.Thesefish are universallythreatened be-
causetheirlargeriverinehabitats are onthe verge
of ceasing tofunction at theecosystemlevel.Only a
combination ofalternativesintegratinghabitat pro-
tection and recoverywithharvest restrictions and
geon populations that areanythingmorethan mu-
seumpieces. The challenge of all who recognize
these problemswill b e t opush forfundamental
changes in how we usetheselarge riverinesystems
rather thansettlingsolely foralternatives in the
constrained sphere of our immediateinfluence.66–77.supplementation can beexpected to sustainstur-AcknowledgementsManythanks to allthe sturgeonresearchers and
managers whofilled out andreturnedquestion-
naires and sent material.J. DeVore and M.Parsley
providedunpublishedinformation onwhitestur-
geon recruitment inthe ColumbiaRiverResearch
and recovery efforts for Columbia River white stur-
geon arefunded by theBonnevillePowerAdminis-
tration (ContractDE-A179-86BP63584), theFed-
eral Aid toFishRestoration Act, and the States of
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