Anglers and conservationists have raised alarms over Herrling Island in particular, where commercial farming and logging are said to have had a destructive impact on the surrounding river ecosystem.

Habitat loss has prompted an investigation from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"[Closing the fishery is] an appropriate precautionary move, given the extent of habitat damage that's unfolded there," said Mark Angelo, B.C. Rivers chair of the 100,000 member Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C.

"But we have to find a better way to care for that area, to protect it," he added.

Angelo says habitat loss in the area extends beyond just the sturgeon population and is also adversely affecting salmon stocks in the area.