Lake Huron | Huron-Erie Corridor | St. Marys River

Background

Fishery biologist Scott Koproski holds a lake sturgeon captured from the Great Lakes. Photo USFWS.

Lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, are pre-historic fish native to Lake Huron and the Great Lakes. Lake sturgeon inhabit large river and lake systems primarily in the Mississippi River, Hudson Bay and Great Lakes basins. They were considered a nuisance by early commercial fishers because of no market value and the damage the fish did to commercial gears. By the early 1900s many populations of lake sturgeon had been greatly reduced or extirpated as a result of overfishing, habitat loss, the construction of dams, and pollution. Efforts are being made by state, federal and provincial agencies to recover and gain more information on lake sturgeon population status, early life history, and habitat use. read more >

Projects

Lake Huron Lake Sturgeon Investigations

Huron-Erie Corridor Lake Sturgeon Investigations

St. Mary River Lake Sturgeon Investigations

Resource Materials

Lake Sturgeon Program Poster Presentation (pdf - 396 Kb)

Reports on Lake Sturgeon Investigations - view reports

Useful Websites

Great Lakes Lake Sturgeon Tag Identification Database - http://www.glfc.org/sturgeontag/

Great Lakes Lake Sturgeon Website - http://www.fws.gov/midwest/sturgeon/

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