New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation
Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine
Resources
Lake
Sturgeon
(Acipenser fulvescens)
New York Status:
Threatened
Distribution and Habitat
In New York, lake sturgeon have been collected in St. Lawrence
River, Niagara River, Oswegatchie River, Grasse River, Lake Ontario,
Lake Erie, Lake Champlain, Black Lake, Cayuga Lake, and in the
Seneca and Cayuga canals.
Population Status
The American Fisheries Society has listed the lake sturgeon as
threatened in all the states where it occurs. Although it is
difficult to determine the specific causes of lake sturgeon
population declines, several factors have been blamed, including:
over exploitation of stocks due to high demand for their eggs
(caviar) and smoked flesh; construction of dams that
cut off spawning and nursery areas; and possibly by
products of urban and rural development such as pollution and
channelization that caused degradation of habitat.
Management and Recovery
Programs
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) is protecting habitats of lake sturgeon and gathering
population information. Habitat enhancement was attempted in the
St. Lawrence River and may be practical in the Niagara River. The
largest populations which appear to be sustaining themselves are
in the St. Lawrence River downstream of Massena, the Niagara River
and the Grasse River. DEC has been using artificial propagation of
this species to reestablish populations in selected tributaries of
the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, including the Oswegatchie
River, Black Lake, the St. Regis River, Oneida Lake and Cayuga
Lake. The Oneida Fish Hatchery produces about 5,000 fingerlings
each year, originating from the St. Lawrence River at Massena.
Evaluation of these stocking efforts in 1999 showed the
Oswegatchie River and Oneida Lake had hundreds of juveniles
ranging up to 30" long, and many had spread to other
downstream areas. Another recovery program in a tributary of Lake
Ontario, the Genesee River, may include stocking fingerlings in
2001 from eggs taken from the Niagara River.
|
For more information on lake
sturgeon, please visit DEC’s endangered species website @:
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ |
