Current Status of Lake Sturgeon
- Lake sturgeon have experienced dramatic population declines over the past 100 years
- Over harvest
- Barriers to migration
- Loss of spawning habitat
- Current numbers estimated to be less than 1% of historic numbers in Great Lakes
- Many historic populations in the Great Lakes have become extirpated
- Most remnant populations in Great Lakes have annual spawning runs of fewer than 200 fish
Holey et al. (2000)
Rehabilitation Strategies
- Currently listed as threatened or endangered throughout native range
- Many states (including MI) have developed rehabilitation plans for lake sturgeon
- Little information known about many fundamental aspects of life history important for restoration
- Genetic markers provide a novel method for examining many demographic and life history characteristics of lake sturgeon in the Great Lakes