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White Sturgeon Vs. Green Sturgeon

25K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  kevray 
#1 Ā·
So, what's the difference? :shrug: I know that most, if not all, of the sturgeon on the CR and Willy are white. But where would one find green sturgeon? Are there any physical identifiers that desinguish one from the other? Any difference in taste?

Thanks,

CrF
 
#3 Ā·
Here is the primer I posted a while back.

There was a thread about where green sturgeon hung out and a question about how to tell the difference was asked. So here it is.
First is color. As you can see from the next two pictures, that isn't always a good characteristic.


This is a green....



This is a white...



Usually whites are shade of gray and greens are a shade of green.
This picture will show you the general differences in the shape of the head. White on the left and green on the right.



Greens usually have a longer, pointier head than a white and barbels are closer to the mouth than whites.

Here is how they look from the side.



As you can see the color difference is more normal with these two. Again white on the left and green on the right. You can also see the stripe that greens usually have down their sides.

Here is what they look like from the bottom. Again white on the left and green on the right. Notice that the green has another stripe down the belly. This can just be a little splotch all the way to a long stripe. You can also see that the vent is behind the pelvic fins on the white and right between on the green.



Here is a close up of the side stripe



White sturgeon have more scutes down their sides than greens do. Whites have 36-48 and greens have 22-33 and as you can see from this picture thay can be rather sharp.



As you can see from my wrist they are sharp.

Hope this helps on your next sturgeon adventure!
 
#5 Ā·
I have caught alot Sturgeon and the only place I have got Green Sturgeon so far is in the lower Yaquina and 1 nice big 62" in the Columbia estuary, never got one in the upper Columbia I think they like more salt water.
 
#6 Ā·
That was all that was in the original. It was a couple years back and the pics weren't linked anymore so I just recreated it here.
 
#15 Ā·
A lot of people think green meat is inferior to white. But a lot of the canned, smoked sturgeon you buy is from greens. I've smoked both and both were good,
 
#16 Ā·
I have only seen one green, a 48" my buddy put in my boat near Tongue Point a few years ago.

I had never seen one prior to that, but there was little question. Don't forget there is a handy reference for the vent location on the harvest card location sheet you received with your license.

As STG states above, color seems obvious, but verify location of the vent, and the scutes on the side of a keeper size green will look like razor wire. :shocked: :wink:
 
#22 Ā·
Boated a nice 53" a year ago in the estuary. Fed it to the family with some white sturgeon as a test, and nobody could tell the difference. I do beleive they are generally skinnier than the whites so you will not get as much meat out of one that is comparable in length.
 
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