Fish and Wildlife Service employee weighing lake sturgeon

Henry Quinlan, Service Fisheries biologist weighs a lake sturgeon along the Bad River in Wisconsin. This fish species is an important biological component of the Great Lakes fish community. By the early 1900's many populations of lake sturgeon throughout their range had been greatly reduced or extirpated as a result of overfishing, habitat loss, the construction of dams, and pollution. Lake sturgeon are listed as either threatened or endangered by 19 of the 20 states within its original range in the United States.