Interesting read. The opening picture of the three guys lifting the sturgeon out of the water is definite no no in my books. If they were guided it should have been made clear to not lift the sturgeon out of the water. You can get a good picture that shows the length while still having most of the sturgeon submerged.
I would say the huge increase in permits from 2009 to 2017 is mostly with the single day licenses. Sturgeon fishing is way more popular now than it was then. My work has done two "team building
" days this on guided boats, 20 guys x 5 boats. Plenty of other occupations are also doing similar team days. You can go on groupon or similar sites and easily find 50% off guided sturgeon fishing trips from multiple outfits. Years back you heard of the occasional person who has caught a sturgeon, just wasn't as accessible for the commoner ... now lots of people have, it's pretty easy to get into one or pay $100 p.p for a 4 hour guided trip.
All the guides I've had have been super ethical and always looking out for the best interest of the sturgeon. I have no doubt it stressing them, especially the females as mentioned in the article.