(WPBN/WGTU) – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and several partners released nearly 6,000 juvenile lake sturgeon into various public waters across the state this summer and fall.
Juvenile lake sturgeon were collected from the wild during April and May and reared in streamside facilities until they were large enough to tag.
Most fish were tagged prior to being released into their respective rivers to allow future evaluations of stocked fish.
The lake sturgeon is on the Threatened Species list in Michigan, and these annual stocking efforts are critical to restoring the state’s lake sturgeon population.
Below is the list of lakes receiving the lake sturgeon and the number of fish stocked:
Black Lake (Cheboygan County): 549 fish
Lower Black River (Cheboygan County): 2,261 fish
Burt Lake/Sturgeon River (Cheboygan County): 601 fish
Mullet Lake (Cheboygan County): 740 fish
Cedar River (Menominee County): 302 fish
Kalamazoo River (Allegan County): 2 fish
Whitefish River (Delta County): 72 fish
Ontonagon River (Ontonagon County): 1,261 fish
Tittabawassee River (Midland County): 193 fish
It takes the work of many partners to secure funding and resources to make restoration possible. Partners include the DNR, the Black Lake chapter of Sturgeon for Tomorrow, the Kalamazoo River chapter of Sturgeon for Tomorrow, the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish band of Pottawatomi Indians, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan State University, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
This story was originally published in UpNorthLive.