Written By
Six feet in length and tipping the scales at over 200 pounds, adult lake sturgeon once swam the tributaries of the Great Lakes in great seasonal spawning migrations—prehistoric giants returning home. A century ago, rivers ran thick with them. But their numbers fell as water fouled, dams rose, and populations were overfished.
Lake sturgeon look like something out of the fossil record with bony plates covering their bodies. The species date back more than 135 million years —predating Tyrannosaurus rex. For millennia these freshwater giants thrived in the Great Lakes region, playing a vital role in the aquatic ecosystems and culture of the area. Today, the prehistoric survivor is staging a quiet comeback thanks to a network of partners and support from federal funds.
At the helm of the restoration effort are biologists from state and federal agencies, university staff, Tribes, volunteers, as well as Canadian partners. And progress, like the sturgeon themselves, moves slow and steady.
When research station manager Ed Baker joined the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in the early 1990s, lake sturgeon population numbers had plummeted to only one percent of their historic levels. “At the start of my career, DNR was beginning focused restoration work for lake sturgeon and a large part of this early effort was researching the life cycle of lake sturgeon and collecting data on where populations still remained,� said Baker.
One of the remaining populations that would advance restoration efforts was in the Lower Peninsula’s Cheboygan County. These are the lake sturgeon of the Black River—giants that have watched forests grow and now find themselves part of an ambitious conservation effort. What began as a need to fill sturgeon life history data gaps and test a temporary streamside rearing facility has become the most studied sturgeon population in the world and a model for sturgeon streamside rearing. In the Black River and adjacent streamside facility, biologists have spent decades unraveling the mysteries of sturgeon ecology, studying spawning habits, and raising thousands of sturgeon for release into Great Lake waterways.
A network of streamside rearing facilities raising sturgeon eggs or tiny fry collected from the wild now dot rivers in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Baker explains that female sturgeon produce over a million eggs during a spawning event, but less than .001 percent will reach adulthood. These rearing facilities are helping to improve those odds. Like salmon, these fish have an uncanny ability to return to their birthplace to spawn. This instinct adds to the importance of the streamside rearing, allowing young sturgeon to imprint on their ancestral waterways and find their way back to numerous Great Lake river systems, including the Black, Cedar, Kalamazoo, and Saginaw Rivers.
When they’re ready, finger-length and full of promise, the young sturgeon are released. Carrying tiny PIT tags, no bigger than a grain of rice, allowing scientists to track their journeys. But there’s still a long road ahead. For sturgeon, restoration timelines stretch across generations. Lake sturgeon take 15 to 25 years to mature and return to spawning grounds. “Right on schedule we have started to see streamside reared female sturgeon return to spawn, it has been over two decades since they were released from our facility,� adds Baker. “That is encouraging and an important milestone for the next generation of lake sturgeon.�
The streamside facilities have reared and released thousands of lake sturgeons since the DNR and their partners began this effort. Today, this restoration effort is funded by a variety of sources including the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, State Wildlife Grants, the hydropower industry, but Sport Fish Restoration Act funding supported much of the early work. Sport Fish Restoration dollars, money derived from federal excise taxes paid by fishing tackle manufacturers as well as a tax on motorboat fuel, has also supported the restoration of many of America’s fish species.
Utilizing this funding early in the restoration effort allowed Michigan DNR to jumpstart research and fisheries management efforts for lake sturgeon. “We relied on these funds for nearly a decade to study the status of lake sturgeon, sample historic areas, and fund early streamside rearing efforts,� adds Baker. “The success we have seen could not have happened without the Sport Fish Restoration seed money to get our work underway.�
As funding sources and partnerships have broadened, lake sturgeon populations have grown. The expanding populations, dam removals, and rearing efforts are paying off. For Baker, the ultimate goal is getting the species off of the Michigan threatened species list. “We have had a lot of milestones along the way, in large part thanks to our many partners, all of these are getting us closer to a day when sturgeon are restored in Michigan waterways.�
The Sport Fish Restoration Act turns 75 years old this year. It has been a cornerstone in ensuring that America’s sport fish populations and aquatic habitats are healthy, sustainable, and accessible for all. This partnership among excise tax-paying manufacturers, state fish and wildlife agencies, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proven to be one of the most successful conservation models in the world, supporting fisheries management that meets the local level needs of every U.S. state, commonwealth, and territory. Learn more at .
Written By
