Wednesday June 17, 2026
Phys —
A new telemetry study published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences finds that the method used to raise juvenile lake sturgeon before stocking has little bearing on how the fish behave after release—an important finding for ongoing efforts to restore the species to the Maumee River and other Ohio rivers.
Lake sturgeon were once abundant throughout the Great Lakes but were nearly wiped out by overfishing, pollution and habitat loss. A collaborative reintroduction program—led by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, The University of Toledo, Michigan State University and the Toledo Zoo—began stocking baby sturgeon annually in the Maumee River in 2018. The long-term goal is to establish 1,500 naturally spawning adults in the river.
The program used two approaches to raise young fish: a traditional hatchery at Genoa National Fish Hatchery in Wisconsin and a “streamside” facility at the Toledo Zoo that used Maumee River water. The streamside method was designed to expose fish to local water chemistry during a critical early window, potentially improving imprinting—the process by which fish learn to recognize and return to their home river to spawn or lay eggs as adults.