Evaluating the viability of electroanaesthesia and chemical anaesthetic options in juvenile lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens)

All five sturgeon species in Canada are considered at-risk. Conservation research on sturgeons often involves
capturing wild sturgeon and performing procedures like tagging surgeries, so we can better understand their
ecology in waters that are often impacted by human activities. In this project, we will work with our partner
organisation, BC Hydro, to try to find the best method of anaesthetising or immobilising sturgeons for short-term
surgeries. Most options explored to date are challenging to use in the field. By evaluating the effects of several
different chemical anaesthetics and non-chemical alternatives such as electrical immobilisation on physiological
and behavioural changes in lake sturgeon and white sturgeon, we can see which methods are more or less
stressful to the fish. Our results will inform best handling and anaesthesia practices in sturgeon research, like that
conducted by BC Hydro as they spearhead wild sturgeon conservation work in British Columbia.

Faculty Supervisor:

Steven Cooke

Student:

Partner:

BC Hydro

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Clean Technology; Agriculture and Food; Life Sciences (not health)

University:

Carleton University

Program: