Aug. 4, 2009
The Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State University, Sturgeon for Tomorrow and the Tower-Kleber Limited Partnership are celebrating the release of young sturgeon raised at the Black River Streamside Lake Sturgeon Rearing Facility.
DNR Fisheries Division officials today announced that the newly completed streamside sturgeon rearing facility on the Black River has produced its first batch of young lake sturgeon, and these fish are now ready to be released back into the river. This is part of ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the Black Lake sturgeon population.
A ceremony to celebrate the successful construction of the facility and the stocking of the young lake sturgeon will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at Kleber Dam, which is operated by Tower-Kleber Limited Partnership. The dam is located at the Twin School Road crossing of the Black River, approximately three miles northeast of Tower in Cheboygan County.
Construction of the rearing facility was one of the essential elements included in a negotiated agreement between the DNR and Tower-Kleber as part of the dam's operating license. The company agreed to help enhance sturgeon populations after a 1997 DNR survey showed sturgeon numbers had declined significantly from previous levels.
"The efforts of the people at Tower-Kleber have been extraordinary; they worked through difficult weather conditions and under a very tight schedule to construct the facility in time to produce sturgeon this year," said Dave Borgeson, the Northern Lake Huron Unit manager for the DNR.
Sturgeon rehabilitation efforts have attracted a number of partners, including Sturgeon for Tomorrow (SFT), a nonprofit group dedicated to the future of lake sturgeon. Members of SFT's Black Lake Chapter have volunteered thousands of hours to "Sturgeon Watch," an effort to protect vulnerable adult sturgeon during the spawning run, and have contributed thousands of dollars for habitat protection and sturgeon research efforts.
"Sturgeon for Tomorrow stepped up huge for us this year by purchasing the food needed to raise this batch of fish," said Dr. Kurt Newman, Lake Huron coordinator for the DNR.
"We're just ecstatic about the new rearing facility," said Brenda Archambo, SFT president. "It will allow us to continue our efforts to restore the sturgeon population, as well as offer a great opportunity for public outreach and education."
The rearing facility was staffed by MSU personnel, but that was only one of the many tasks completed as part of the ongoing research, led by Dr. Kim Scribner, Ph.D. candidate Ben Rook of MSU, and DNR researcher Dr. Ed Baker.
"It has been a very busy field season. The timing for the spring tagging of spawning adults, collection of eggs and larval sturgeon, and rearing of the young fish all overlapped this year, which made for some very long days," Rook said. "It will be nice to see our efforts pay off when we put these young fish back into the river."
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