Displaying items by tag: lake sturgeon

This juvenile lake sturgeon was one of 50 released into the Tennessee River from Chattanooga’s Coolidge Park on May 2. The lineage of the fish can be traced millions of years, but overfishing, dams and habitat destruction has led to widespread population declines throughout its natural range.  Doug Strickland/Tennessee Aquarium

Lake sturgeon recovery links rivers and experts in Tennessee and Wisconsin 

Doug Strickland is a writer for the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

CHATTANOOGA — Just across from the iconic peaks of the Tennessee Aquarium on the shore of the Tennessee River, a group of scientists with the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute gathered on an early May morning to restore a primordial fish to the state’s primary waterway.

One by one, they carefully navigated down a boat ramp at Coolidge Park before gently releasing juvenile lake sturgeon, each just under a foot in length, into the river’s shallows.

These 50 sturgeon were the final youngsters to be reintroduced from a class of hundreds of sturgeon fry that arrived at the Conservation Institute’s freshwater field station last summer. Their introduction to the Tennessee River represented the latest milestone of a decades-long conservation effort to restore this state-endangered fish.

Despite reclaiming their one-time home in the waters of the Volunteer State, these newfound Tennesseans began life some 850 miles north of Chattanooga.

Conservation scientists with the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute pose in the Tennessee River before releasing more than 600 juvenile lake sturgeon into the waterway. Tennessee Aquarium

CHATTANOOGA — After bulking up all summer on a steady diet of bloodworms and brine shrimp, hundreds of juvenile lake sturgeon finally were returned to their ancestral waters this morning. 

Under a nearly cloudless autumn sky, biologists from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute and third through fifth grade students from Girls Inc. of Chattanooga’s Fall Break Camp gathered on the north bank of the Tennessee River in Coolidge Park. 

One by one, they carefully made their way to the river’s edge holding clear, water-filled plastic buckets containing five-month-old lake sturgeon. Amidst excited squeals and nervous laughter, they squatted down, gently depositing each sleek, armor-skinned fish into the shallows.

This latest release “class” included 667 lake sturgeon. Comparatively tiny now, these miniature river giants have the potential to reach nine feet in length and could live for up to 150 years. 

Reintroduction events like this are the capstone payoff to a summer spent tirelessly caring for and — most of all — feeding these sturgeon, says Reintroduction Biologist II Teresa Israel. 

“It’s really special. It’s hard to see them go, but it’s a happy day since we’ve seen them get so big, so we know they’ll be successful out there,” she said. “It’s a great accomplishment that completes the circle for all our hard work.” 

Lake Sturgeon are considered endangered in Tennessee. As recently as the 1970s, this species had disappeared from both waterways due to the impacts of damming, poor water quality and over-fishing. Today’s release is the latest in the now-23-year-old effort to bring Lake Sturgeon back to the Tennessee River and Cumberland River.

A young lake sturgeon is viewed through a photographic aquarium after arriving at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute.  Tennessee Aquarium

Tennessee Aquarium welcomes 2,500 baby lake sturgeon as restoration effort turns 25 years old

Casey Phillips is a communications specialist at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

CHATTANOOGA — The approach of summer coincided with the arrival of thousands of juvenile lake sturgeon in the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. 

Biologists at the Aquarium’s freshwater field station welcomed 2,500, 2-inch babies into their care. After a steady diet of bloodworms and brine shrimp, bringing the fish to at least 6 inches, they will be reintroduced into the Tennessee River.

These tiny fish hold tremendous promise. Adult lake sturgeon may reach lengths of 8 feet and live 150 years. 

“They start out really small, so it’s shocking to think how big they can get,” says reintroduction biologist Sarah Kate Bailey. “The first year of life is when they grow the quickest. 

“They grow so fast while we have them here. You’ll go home for the day, come in the next morning, and they look like they’ve grown overnight.” 

Tennessee Aquarium Director of Hospitality and Marketing Meredith Roberts and her daughter Lucy release a juvenile lake sturgeon during an Earth Day event on the Chattanooga riverfront.  Tennessee Aquarium

Tennessee Aquarium releases endangered sturgeon on a fin and a prayer

CHATTANOOGA — Lake sturgeon are living fossils.

They are dinosaur fish. They have no scales. They are protected by a tough skin with boney plates, and are unchanged for millennia. They are part of a widespread related group of fish, with 23 species worldwide, and are an endangered species in Tennessee.

Tennessee Aquarium staff released some of these dinosaurs into the Tennessee River here on Earth Day, observed this year on April 22. Aquarium staff were joined by 30 students from Calvin Donaldson Elementary School and the public to release 65 juvenile lake sturgeon into the Tennessee River at Chattanooga’s Coolidge Park.

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WBIR: Holston River sturgeon surging

The population of lake sturgeon, a survivor since the Cretaceous Era that barely escaped the ravages of modern dams and reservoirs, is on the upswing in the Holston River and other branches and tributaries of the Tennessee River system. The last record of the fish in the valley before restoration efforts began is about 1960, according to WBIR.

Significantly older fish were identified during a recent inventory of sturgeon, giving hope that some fish were closing in on reproductive maturity. The gradual recovery is largely the result of Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority restoration efforts, WBIR reports.

“It makes our valley richer; that fish is supposed to be here,” one researcher told WBIR about the significance of the so-far successful restoration of native sturgeon habitats.