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Sturgeon ‘Head Start’ program up and running
By Linda Gallagher
Correspondent
Indian River, Mich. — “This is a very special day,” said Brenda Archambo of Cheboygan, president of the Black Lake Chapter of Sturgeon for Tomorrow. Archambo was standing on the banks of the Sturgeon River, watching thousands of young sturgeon fingerlings swimming in the cold waters of the Cheboygan County river. “This could be the start of a whole new trophy fishery for the state of Michigan,” she said.
Archambo and other members of Sturgeon for Tomorrow and the newly formed Sturgeon Advisory Council, a coalition of lake sturgeon enthusiasts from a variety of northern Michigan conservation organizations, gathered in late October to watch Michigan DNR fisheries personnel release 5,300 juvenile sturgeon into the Sturgeon, Pigeon, and Black rivers.
It’s believed the stocking of the Sturgeon and Pigeon rivers, the first-ever of lake sturgeon into either river, will supplement remnant native populations of the prehistoric fish in Burt and Mullet lakes.
Hatched last spring in the Black River, the young sturgeon were captured as fry by personnel from Michigan State University and the DNR, then transported to the DNR’s Wolf Lake Hatchery in Kalamazoo where they were nurtured for six months.
Dubbed by Archambo as the “Head Start” program, the two-year-old program has proved successful. Lake sturgeon fry cultured under hatchery conditions not only survived, but thrived, growing far larger than sturgeon of the same age under natural conditions. Many of the fingerlings released into the Sturgeon and Pigeon rivers were in excess of six inches long.
“Two years ago, we captured sturgeon fry from the Black River, cultured them at Wolf Lake, then released them back into the Black River in the fall,” said Dave Borgeson, DNR fisheries biologist. “Each of those juveniles were micro-chipped, as are all of these fish being released today. The microchips allow researchers from the DNR and MSU, which will be conducting a sturgeon study for the next three years, to track them as they move from the river nursery area into the lake. That will help us to understand more about juvenile growth patterns and behavior.”
Borgeson said survival of those juvenile sturgeon in the wild has been very good.
“Now we’ll see how these Black River fingerlings do in the waters of Burt and Mullet lakes. It will be very interesting research,” he said.
About 1,300 sturgeon fingerlings were released into the Sturgeon River, while the Pigeon River received approximately 1,000. The remainder of the juvenile fish, approximately 3,000, were released back into their natal waters of the Black River.
“This is very unique work that isn’t being undertaken anywhere else in the world that I’m aware of,” noted Archambo. “We believe that what we’re leading the way for wild sturgeon rehabilitation all over the world.”
Listed as a threatened species in Michigan, remnant populations of the once-abundant fish, which can grow to weigh 200 pounds and live more than 100 years, have survived despite decades of indiscriminate commercial netting, poaching, and pollution.
With the support of the members of the Sturgeon Advisory Council, which represents a cross-section of sturgeon interests from all over northern Michigan, Archambo hopes to promote further sturgeon research and rehabilitation.
“We’d like to raise the bar to create a trophy fishery here on Burt and Mullet lakes, which is what our limited Black Lake sturgeon spearing season really is,” Archambo said. “From here, if the habitat is right, the sky’s the limit of what can be done to restore our native lake sturgeon populations throughout the state of Michigan.”
A variety of Michigan inland waters currently or once linked to the Great Lakes could be considered, according to Archambo.
“It’s rumored that a lot of those lakes, like Lake Charlevoix, Manistee Lake, Indian Lake in the U.P., Portage Lake, Crystal Lake, Glen Lake, Lake Leelanau, and the Antrim County Chain of Lakes, among many others, still may hold remnant populations of sturgeon,” she said. “With a little help, we could see viable trophy fisheries in those lakes, and many, many others, not just in the state of Michigan, but all over the world.”
By Linda Gallagher
Correspondent
Indian River, Mich. — “This is a very special day,” said Brenda Archambo of Cheboygan, president of the Black Lake Chapter of Sturgeon for Tomorrow. Archambo was standing on the banks of the Sturgeon River, watching thousands of young sturgeon fingerlings swimming in the cold waters of the Cheboygan County river. “This could be the start of a whole new trophy fishery for the state of Michigan,” she said.
Archambo and other members of Sturgeon for Tomorrow and the newly formed Sturgeon Advisory Council, a coalition of lake sturgeon enthusiasts from a variety of northern Michigan conservation organizations, gathered in late October to watch Michigan DNR fisheries personnel release 5,300 juvenile sturgeon into the Sturgeon, Pigeon, and Black rivers.
It’s believed the stocking of the Sturgeon and Pigeon rivers, the first-ever of lake sturgeon into either river, will supplement remnant native populations of the prehistoric fish in Burt and Mullet lakes.
Hatched last spring in the Black River, the young sturgeon were captured as fry by personnel from Michigan State University and the DNR, then transported to the DNR’s Wolf Lake Hatchery in Kalamazoo where they were nurtured for six months.
Dubbed by Archambo as the “Head Start” program, the two-year-old program has proved successful. Lake sturgeon fry cultured under hatchery conditions not only survived, but thrived, growing far larger than sturgeon of the same age under natural conditions. Many of the fingerlings released into the Sturgeon and Pigeon rivers were in excess of six inches long.
“Two years ago, we captured sturgeon fry from the Black River, cultured them at Wolf Lake, then released them back into the Black River in the fall,” said Dave Borgeson, DNR fisheries biologist. “Each of those juveniles were micro-chipped, as are all of these fish being released today. The microchips allow researchers from the DNR and MSU, which will be conducting a sturgeon study for the next three years, to track them as they move from the river nursery area into the lake. That will help us to understand more about juvenile growth patterns and behavior.”
Borgeson said survival of those juvenile sturgeon in the wild has been very good.
“Now we’ll see how these Black River fingerlings do in the waters of Burt and Mullet lakes. It will be very interesting research,” he said.
About 1,300 sturgeon fingerlings were released into the Sturgeon River, while the Pigeon River received approximately 1,000. The remainder of the juvenile fish, approximately 3,000, were released back into their natal waters of the Black River.
“This is very unique work that isn’t being undertaken anywhere else in the world that I’m aware of,” noted Archambo. “We believe that what we’re leading the way for wild sturgeon rehabilitation all over the world.”
Listed as a threatened species in Michigan, remnant populations of the once-abundant fish, which can grow to weigh 200 pounds and live more than 100 years, have survived despite decades of indiscriminate commercial netting, poaching, and pollution.
With the support of the members of the Sturgeon Advisory Council, which represents a cross-section of sturgeon interests from all over northern Michigan, Archambo hopes to promote further sturgeon research and rehabilitation.
“We’d like to raise the bar to create a trophy fishery here on Burt and Mullet lakes, which is what our limited Black Lake sturgeon spearing season really is,” Archambo said. “From here, if the habitat is right, the sky’s the limit of what can be done to restore our native lake sturgeon populations throughout the state of Michigan.”
A variety of Michigan inland waters currently or once linked to the Great Lakes could be considered, according to Archambo.
“It’s rumored that a lot of those lakes, like Lake Charlevoix, Manistee Lake, Indian Lake in the U.P., Portage Lake, Crystal Lake, Glen Lake, Lake Leelanau, and the Antrim County Chain of Lakes, among many others, still may hold remnant populations of sturgeon,” she said. “With a little help, we could see viable trophy fisheries in those lakes, and many, many others, not just in the state of Michigan, but all over the world.”
