Free festival celebrates Columbia River sturgeon

The Columbia River ecosystem and its primitive inhabitant, the sturgeon, will be honored in Vancouver Saturday, Sept. 16, at the 21st Annual Sturgeon Festival.

The free, one-day festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Water Resources Education Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way in Vancouver. The festival is hosted by the City of Vancouver in partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

While sturgeon have top billing, the popular festival features a variety of entertaining and educational activities for all ages. Special events include a live reptile show, a live bird show, and opportunities to learn about plants and animals around the Columbia River.

WDFW will also dissect several species of fish to give festivalgoers an understanding of the sturgeon's unique anatomy. Prevalent in the Columbia River, the sturgeon is a primitive fish that has not changed substantially since it emerged millions of years ago.

Sturgeon are a long-lived species, reaching five to six feet in length by the age of maturity. A few sturgeon in the Columbia River have been verified to be over 80 years old.