Overview

• British Columbia reports 71 white sturgeon found dead since July, including 65 in the lower Fraser and 49 in the past four weeks.
• Tsawwassen First Nation is freezing recovered carcasses and plans to drift some fitted with telemetry to trace movement and infer where deaths occur.
• The research team aims to collect 20 carcasses for study, though many reports involve fish too decomposed to recover.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada says Fraser River temperatures topped 20 C late this summer, with sturgeon stress and mortality risk rising above 18 C.
• Authorities suspect multiple contributing factors, including disease, heat stress, propeller strikes and fishing-related stress, with no confirmed single cause and no direct evidence tying a recent sockeye opening to the deaths.