Fish and Wildlife Service working to bring back lake sturgeon
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has partnered with other Michigan organizations to sponsor and oversee the restocking of lake sturgeon in the Saginaw Bay watershed and other bodies of water feeding into Lake Huron. The Michigan DNR, the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, and the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network are among the sponsors and assistants helping to bring the lake sturgeon back to its native waters.
While the lake sturgeon is one of the oldest native species of fish in Michigan, its population has been low for the last few decades thanks to over fishing, dam construction in its native waters, and water quality issues thanks to nutrient surplus. According to Justin Chiotti, a fish biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service, there are tributaries that supported lake sturgeon that no longer exist.
There are only two self-sustaining lake sturgeon populations left in the state: one in St. Mary’s River and another in St. Clair River.