Declining Lake Sturgeon Population Sparks Multiagency Effort
Cooperative efforts through the Sustainable Rivers Project lead to back-to-back Lake Sturgeon spawning successes in 2022 and 2023! The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, and the Missouri Department of Conservation have been partnering to study Lake Sturgeon for the past several years. These efforts have been focused on utilizing the Melvin Price Locks and Dam to adjust flow near the shore to create better spawning conditions. This is the second year in a row where the species has spawned near the Maple Island Boat Ramp in West Alton, Mo., showing a positive sign that this management could be beneficial for lake sturgeon along the Upper Mississippi. The Sustainable Rivers Project, established in 2002, is a national partnership between the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Nature Conservancy.
Lake Sturgeon are the living fossils of the fish world. Found in both lakes and rivers, this prehistoric species has survived since the Cretaceous period. Geological records indicate that these ancient gentle giants we see today are virtually unchanged from fossil lake sturgeon from over 200 million years ago. Like other prehistoric fish, sturgeon do not have scales – they have denticles that decrease drag and turbulence, allowing a sturgeon to swim faster and more quietly.
The St. Louis District and Missouri Department of Conservation in partnership with the Sustainable Rivers Project joined efforts three years ago to monitor the highly dynamic aquatic processes that allow for spawning of the state endangered species. Local anglers first noticed the Lake Sturgeon spawning in the tail water of Melvin Price Locks and Dam and reported the occurrence to River’s Project biologists. Since then, Corps personnel have continued to manipulate the Tainter gate openings at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam during spawning season to mimic conditions required for successful spawning which can be seen by the eggs that collect on the rocks below the dam.
Active spawning occurs between 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit in water moving at 1.5 feet/second, requires clean rock, and cobble substrate. Lake Sturgeon seek out rocky areas with fast-flowing currents that aerate and scatter the adhesive eggs which adhere to rocks for an 8-to-14-day incubation period. The freshly hatched embryo’s settle into the rocks along the shoreline and use a large yolk-sac on their belly for food. After 10 days, the yolk-sac is consumed, and the larva are now able to swim with the river current. They float downstream and settle out in areas with sandy bottoms to feed on burrowing invertebrate larva and other small organisms in the river. The larva grows rapidly. In approximately five months, they are five to seven inches long and called fingerlings.
Historically, the Lake Sturgeon population has continued to decline due to pollution, restricted migration routes and inaccessible spawning habitat. In the wild, the slow growing, but long-lived female sturgeons don’t spawn until they are twenty-five years old. When they do spawn, one female can lay up to 700,000 eggs with suitable conditions.
The Lake Sturgeon population in the Mississippi River is currently maintained by fertilized eggs raised from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services National Fish Hatchery in Genoa, Wisconsin while the Missouri river hatchlings are raised in the Missouri Department of Conservation Lost Valley Fish Hatchery in Warsaw, Missouri.
Restoration of the Lake Sturgeon, or Acipenser fulvescens, is heavily dependent upon the availability of suitable spawning habitat. Biologists working with water management engineers have learned how to adjust the Tainter gates at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam creating the presumed desired flow patterns along the shoreline for spawning. With the Lake Sturgeon being a state endangered species in Illinois, Missouri, and nine other states, monitoring became ongoing at this site in 2015 when they were first observed spawning. Thus, making this site the first confirmed lake sturgeon spawning location in Missouri.
The continued success of this program is largely due to a systemic approach to monitoring of fish tags. The tagged fish of reproductive size are tracked to study their life history attributes, migratory patterns, and environmental variables. This project is part of a larger effort to bring Lake Sturgeon back from the brink of extinction launched by the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1984. A specialized team of fisheries biologist tag and track Lake Sturgeon throughout the state of Missouri to study where they have travel before and after they reproduce in hopes of pinpointing specific habitats to protect.
As this partnership continues to grow, the multiagency team plans to continue with monitoring and tagging the population, adapting more areas for spawning and juvenile growth, adding live stream cameras to spawning areas, adapting management plans to focus on restoration and protection of habitat areas and fostering awareness of the need for protection of this species.
| Date Taken: | 04.28.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2023 16:23 |
| Story ID: | 443653 |
| Location: | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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