Lake Sturgeon and Sea Lamprey Control
Endangered Species Status
During 1982, the lake sturgeon was considered for threatened or endangered status and was listed in the Federal Notices of Review Register as a category 2 (C2) candidate species. In 1995, the C2 classification was removed and the lake sturgeon now has no formal Federal designation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the lake sturgeon as one of the priority fish species in the Great Lakes basin.
All Great Lakes states list lake sturgeon as a State endangered, threatened, or special concern species. Lake sturgeon are State listed as endangered in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, threatened in Michigan and New York, and special concern species in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Partnerships
In partnership with other federal, state, and tribal agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service studies have been conducted on various life stages of lake sturgeon (adult, fry and juvenile) to determine methods to minimize the risk of sea lamprey management activities to known populations of lake sturgeons in the Bad and Sturgeon rivers (Lake Superior) and Peshtigo and Oconto rivers (Lake Michigan).
Graphics by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff
Partners who shared information, equipment, and participated in field assignments include the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Alpena, Ashland, Green Bay, and Lower Great Lakes Fishery Resources Offices, U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division (Hammond Bay Biological Station, Great Lakes Science Center and Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center), Keweenaw Bay Indian Community - Keweenaw Biological Services Department, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians Natural Resources Department, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Department of Biological Sciences of Michigan Technological University, and the Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources.
A Fishery Biologist from the Sea Lamprey Management Program serves as a member of the Lake Sturgeon Committee Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem Team of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lake Sturgeon Work Group of the Lake Superior Technical Committee of the Lake Superior Committee and the Lake Sturgeon Task Group of the Lake Michigan Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Central Great Lakes Binational Lake Sturgeon Work Group, and an informal New York Lake Sturgeon Research Group.
Projects
Projects have been conducted in streams to better understand the sensitivity of juvenile lake sturgeons to lampricides and to assess the distribution and migration of lake sturgeons. A brief summary of each project is as follows:
Sensitivity of Juvenile Lake Sturegeons to Lampricides
Lampricide Toxicity Tests on Juvenile Lake Sturgeons:
Flow-through toxicity tests were conducted with lampricides and juvenile lake sturgeons in a mobile bioassay trailer at the Sturgeon River in 1989, 1993, and 1994. The tests showed juvenile sturgeons larger than 100 mm (about 4 inches) are significantly more tolerant to lampricide exposure than are larval sea lampreys. To minimize the risk to known populations of sturgeons during treatments, streams with populations of sea lampreys and lake sturgeons are treated at lower concentrations of lampricides, usually after August 1 when fewer sturgeons are present, and when juvenile sturgeons are larger and more tolerant to lampricide exposure. Visual observations in the Sturgeon River during and after the lampricide treatments in 1989 and 1994 found numerous dead larval sea lampreys and observed no mortality of lake sturgeons.
Assessment of the effects of lampricide treatments on Lake Sturgeons
Lampricide treatments have been conducted during the following years in state-designated lake sturgeon streams:
1997 - Paw Paw River tributary to St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)
1998 - Bad River (Lake Superior), Manistee, Sturgeon, and Whitefish rivers (Lake Michigan), and Au Sable River (Lake Huron)
1999 - Sturgeon River (Lake Superior), Pere Marquette and White rivers (Lake Michigan), and Sturgeon River tributary to Cheboygan River (Lake Huron)
2000 - Millecoquins, Ford, and Muskegon rivers (Lake Michigan), and Carp and Rifle rivers (Lake Huron)
2001 - Sturgeon, Ontonagon, and Bad rivers (Lake Superior) and Manistique, Whitefish, Cedar, Peshtigo, Oconto, and White rivers (Lake Michigan)
2002 - Tahquamenon River (Lake Superior), Manistique and Muskegon rivers (Lake Michigan), and Rifle River (Lake Huron)
2003 - Manistique and Manistee rivers (Lake Michigan) and Carp River (Lake Huron)
2004 - Millecoquins, Manistique, Whitefish, and Platte rivers (Lake Michigan) and Sturgeon River, a tributary to Cheboygan River system (Lake Huron)
Assessments by dip net during and immediately after all treatments found no mortality of lake sturgeons.
Assessment of Lake Sturgeon Distribution and Migration
Distribution of juvenile lake sturgeons at mouths and offshore of streams:
Juvenile sturgeons were assessed by gill net and bottom trawl in the mouths and near offshore waters of the Bad and Sturgeon rivers in 1994. Most sturgeons (range, 209-858 mm) were found offshore.
Duration of downstream migration of lake sturgeon fry in streams:
Sturgeon fry were assessed by drift net in the Sturgeon River during May and June in 1995 and 1996. Many of the sturgeon fry migrated during early and mid-June and it appeared that most of the fry had moved to the lower portion of the river or out of the river by July 1.
Swim-up fry - at 11 mm (about 0.4 inch) Photo by Dennis Pratt, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Feeding fry - at 19 mm (about 0.7 inches) Photo by Henry Quinlin, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Distribution of adult lake sturgeons in streams:
Movement of adult sturgeons was assessed in the Bad River by gill and dip nets, fitted with radio transmitters, and tracked by radio telemetry monitors during April - June, 1995 and March - June, 1996. Of 24 adult sturgeons captured, tagged, and released, 2 were observed upstream from a proposed site of a sea lamprey barrier. Present and future barriers will be modified or constructed to provide fishways and or trap and transfer facilities to allow for the passage of sturgeons.
Adult - largest recorded at 2.4 meters (about 8 feet) Photo by John G. Shedd Aquarium
Duration of juvenile lake sturgeons in streams:
Juvenile sturgeons were assessed by dip, bottom trawl, and seine nets in streams during July and August in 1997 and 1998. In streams where annual production of lake sturgeon is known, a few juvenile sturgeons have been found in streams during both months. In the Sturgeon River, a few juvenile sturgeons were observed during both months and both years. In the Peshtigo River, a single juvenile sturgeon was found in August in 1997 and a few juvenile sturgeons were observed in July and August in 1998. In the Bad River, a few juvenile sturgeons were observed during both months in 1998. No sturgeons were observed in the Oconto River during either month in 1998.
Juvenile - at 142 mm (about 5.6 inches) Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife staff
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Last updated:
January 29, 2009
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