U.S. Forest Service Fisheries Biologist Marcia Carter releases juvenile lake sturgeon raised at Edenton National Fish Hatchery in North Carolina into the French Broad River near Del Rio, Tn.
Lake sturgeon from eggs harvested in the northern U.S. and raised in hatcheries in several states are being released into Tennessee waterways through a collaborative effort between federal and state agencies and local working groups.
Last week’s “Sturgeonfest” released around 2,400 young lake sturgeon into the French Broad River at Seven Islands State Birding Park.These fish were hatched from eggs taken from the Wolf River in Wisconsin but raised at the Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery in Georgia. The stocking effort continued Thursday with another delivery that also made its way to the French Broad at Del Rio near the North Carolina line.
Regional Fisheries Coordinator Bart Carter confirmed that about 3,300 juvenile lake sturgeon that were raised in Edenton National Fish Hatchery in North Carolina were released into the French Broad River yesterday. The latest releases are part of the continued “Saving the Sturgeon” effort to re-establish one of the largest native fish species in Tennessee waters.
Mr. Carter believes that by releasing the fish into the Del Rio section of the river will allow them to establish in the extensive section of unregulated river upstream of Douglas Reservoir as well as the reservoir itself. The hope is that these fish will survive and with the prospect of future releases, sturgeon will ascend the French Broad in 15 to 20 years to spawn.
Reintroduction of the species in Tennessee began in 2000. Since that time, the TWRA in cooperation with the Tennessee Aquarium Research Institute, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tennessee Clean Water Network, and the Tennessee River Lake Sturgeon Working Group have released about 151,000 lake sturgeon in the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.
The lake sturgeon stocking efforts are part of a long-term program to restore reproducing populations of the primitive species to Tennessee waters. Ultimately, if the program succeeds, the TWRA will be able to allow a managed sport fishery for the largest of Tennessee’s fish species.
Lake sturgeon are often referred to as “Living Fossils” dating back 140 million years. Growing up to nine-feet long with the possibility of living over 150 years, they once thrived in Tennessee waters. However, due to water pollution, overharvest from commercial fishing, and the creation of hydroelectric dams in the 1940s through the 1970s, the species severely declined.
In an effort to measure the current status of the fishery, the TWRA will be sampling for sturgeon in the Tennessee River on Nov. 3-6.
A young lady at "Sturgeonfest" prepares to release a sturgeon raised at Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery in Georgia