Happy 80-ish birthday Herman the Sturgeon

How do you celebrate turning 80-ish?

For a famed fish living in the Columbia River Gorge, it’s by debuting a new IPA and spurring a fundraising campaign.

Herman the Sturgeon, who lives at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery, 70543 N.E. Herman Loop, in Cascade Locks — take Exit 40 off Interstate 84, is celebrating his 80th birthday (give or take a few years, his caretakers are unsure of his exact age) on Saturday, June 22.

“Bonneville Fish Hatchery is the right place for Herman to be and for the public to learn about sturgeon conservation challenges,” said Tim Greseth, executive director of the Oregon Wildlife Foundation. “With the Columbia River just a stone’s throw away, visitors can imagine what the river might have been like when it was teeming with salmon and these prehistoric fish.”

Herman the Sturgeon is about 10 feet long and weighs more than 500 pounds. He is a white sturgeon — one of 23 different species of sturgeon, with seven found in North America.

Herman hails from a long line of prehistoric bottom-feeders. Sturgeon evolved during the Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. The species has changed very little since those days.

While white sturgeon are not considered endangered, they face several challenges. The free-flowing river systems they call home are impeded by hydropower dams. Climate change has also increased the frequency of low-water years, increasing temperatures and other lethal environmental conditions.

The celebration on Herman’s big day begins at 10 a.m. at the Sturgeon Viewing and Interpretive Center. Oregon Wildlife Foundation will have a coloring station food kids and self-guided tours of the Sturgeon Interpretive Center. There will be cupcakes and treats courtesy the Spruce Gifts & Provisions store at noon.

Visitors can sign his birthday card, and those 21-years and older can continue down the road to Ferment Brewing Company’s tasting room in Hood River to toast with the newly brewed “High Five, Herman!” IPA.

There will also be opportunities to donate to the foundation’s ongoing efforts, alongside the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, to repair and improve Herman’s home.

Before Herman found a home at the fish hatchery, he was a fish on the road. He would travel between Roaring River Fish Hatchery, near Scio, and the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. Beginning in the 1930s up until the 1980s, one Herman or another was a mainstay at the State Fair’s Animal Village exhibit (the name Herman has been shared by several sturgeon through the decades).

But because life on the road was harsh, the practice eventually ended, and in 1998 the Sturgeon Viewing and Interpretive Center was built near Bonneville dam. Since then the harsh conditions in the Gorge led to wear and tear, spurring this latest fundraising effort.

Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation online at tinyurl.com/ye27388m.