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full screen Photo: Private
The cousins happened to get unexpected prey in the fishing net at the summer resort on Gålö.
It turned out to be a rare species.
– It felt cool. There aren’t very many people who have got one like this, says Astrid.
Emil, 11, and Elsa, 13, and Astrid, 13, put out fishing nets in the water at their summer resort on Gålö in the Stockholm archipelago.
The next morning there was a strange fish in the net.
– We thought it might be a shark at first, says Emil.
Emil ran up to the house to look at the fish chart: It turned out to be a sturgeon.
– I don’t know how big it usually is. But it almost felt like a small crocodile when it came up. But then you realize that it couldn’t be because it had fins, says Elsa.
– We saw that it had been fished out, so we realized that we should throw it back, says Emil.
How did it feel to catch such a fish?
– The thorns on the back and sides were a bit scary, says Emil.
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full screen Astrid, Emil and Elsa Photo: Private
“Didn’t want to kill it”
The children measured it to be 57 centimeters long. It had to stop in a mini pool in the garden, waiting to be released into the water again. Elsa tells us that it was strong.
– When we picked up the sturgeon, it hit hard with its tail fin and the body was really hard, she says.
They called the National Museum of Natural History, who could confirm that it was a sturgeon they caught. Later they also called the County Administrative Board, who said they would release it back into the sea. Something they had already done.
– We wanted it to continue to live because it is very rare and protected, says Astrid.
– And you get fined if you kill it, says Emil.
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full screen The fish was 57 centimeters long. Photo: Private
Swedish investment
Johan Höjesjö is a professor of ecological zoology at the University of Gothenburg, also confirms that it is a sturgeon and that the species is protected infocloseprotectedReserved means you are not allowed to fish the fish..
– If they have fished it on the east coast, it could be one from Germany.
He tells us that the fish was basically extinct 100 years ago, but that Germany and Estonia, among others, invested heavily in reintroduction and released a large number of fish into the waters.
– We just released about 90 sturgeon last week in a Swedish venture in the Göta River. So it’s probably not one of ours.