Sturgeon splash during spawning in the Wolf River at Bamboo Bend in Shiocton April 26, 2022. (PHOTO: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Sturgeon originating from Wisconsin are thriving in Georgia’s Coosa River as part of an initiative to revive the population.
Lake sturgeon were once abundant in Georgia’s Coosa River before disappearing altogether due to pollution and overfishing. In 2002, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources began a project to bring lake sturgeon back to the Coosa River. Every year, eggs from lake sturgeon in Wisconsin were brought to Georgia before being hatched and released into the Coosa River, a tributary that through Alabama, as well as west Georgia.
The eggs were taken from sturgeon in the Wolf River, Yellow River, Manitowish River and Wisconsin River.
In netting and tagging, researchers found not only are these ancient fish surviving on their own in the Coosa River, but they are capable of reproducing.
The age of some of the lake sturgeon suggested that they were hatched in 2020 – a year with no stocking.
“That was kind of the smoking gun for confirming that these fish were reproducing in the wild on their own, which really is a huge benchmark for recovery,” said Martin Hamel, lead author of the study and an associate professor in UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that the population has recovered, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”
The researchers plan to revisit this method in a few years to see if natural reproduction is still taking place.
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