For Frank Tassone’s haikai challenge. The sturgeon, another creature we prize so highly we’re wiping it from the face of the earth. We don’t have a sturgeon moon here, but we do apparently have the last remaining population of European sturgeon living in our river Garonne. Numbers reduced to below sustainable levels, and since 2012 young sturgeon have been released in an attempt to prevent the population disappearing altogether. We’ll have to wait another 5-10 years to find out if the action has been successful as sturgeon don’t reach reproductive age for 12-20 years. The lucky ones can live up to 100 years. If we leave them alone.
For a million years
in tepid deeps then rivers cool
in balance with tooth beak and claw
the sturgeon waits
for the inescapable nets.
Jane Dougherty Writes 
We have long ceased to eat out of necessity, but only for pleasure. For 20 years only cooking shows.
We will continue stuffing our stupid faces until we burst, the planet bursts, or the starving millions rise up and bursts us.
😦
I hope the actin is successful. Your tanka is chilling.
So do I. Apparently the chances of a male and female sturgeon of an age to reproduce was so slim it was intervene or call the European Sturgeon extinct.
I really hope it doesn’t go extinct.
When we put our minds to it, we can do it.
Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #6: Jane Dougherty’s latest #tanka for my latest #haikai challenge!
Thank you, Frank 🙂
🙂
A lovely write Jane, they are really amazing creatures. Let’s hope we don’t manage to wipe out their existence.
When you think how long they have survived, only to be fished to death by us. We are shameful.
Yes, it’s true.
😦
Actually we seem to have no shame.
I too hope the attempt to keep the species alive works. It has in some cases. (K)
It’s just a fish/bird/insect/big cat, it’s dangerous/ugly/aggressive/invasive/eats my tomatoes, it’s useless/doesn’t taste good/takes up too much space/causes road accidents/screams at night. You name the species and someone will tell you why it doesn’t matter if we kill them all.
I hope they keep the sturgeon alive, if only because the more effort we put into allowing creatures just to keep on doing what they’ve done for thousands of years, the more people are going to see it as normal that everything has a right to existence (except people like Trump and Jeffry Epstein).
One down, one to go…
That one would never have the guts. He’d have to be suicided.