Prehistoric Sturgeon studied in Manistee Lake

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[font "arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][#003366]Prehistoric Sturgeon studied in Manistee Lake[/#003366][/font]

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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is reprinted with permission of the Manistee News Advocate.[/font]



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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]For the third year in a row, Central Michigan University students and technicians netted lake sturgeon in Manistee Lake to learn about how many of the prehistoric fish are left and how they spawn.[/font]








[font "Arial, Helvetica"][#006b84][size 3]Weigh In and Length Measurements[/size][/#006b84][/font]

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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]The five-member research team is made up of two graduate students, Joshua Lallaman and Lauren Yeomans, two technicians, Gerhard Holmok and Sarah Heaton-Vescei, and CMU biology professor Douglas Peterson. The research is primarily funded by the Department of Natural Resources and the United States Forest Service.[/font]

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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]Sturgeon were measured, weighed, and twice tagged. Once is with a colored external tag, and the second with a permanent microchip tag implanted with a syringe that keeps the fish's history on file.[/font]





[font "Arial, Helvetica"]The Manistee River is one of the few places left where the spawning run takes place. Sturgeon swim from Lake Michigan through Manistee Lake to the Manistee River's Tippy Dam and Suicide Bend sites.[/font]



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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]By netting and studying 43 sturgeon, the students were able to distinguish some interesting spawning behaviors that differ significantly from spawning salmon. Research found that the sturgeon moved at different paces.[/font]











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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]Sturgeon live most of their lives in Lake Michigan, sometimes as long as 100 years.[/font]



[font "Arial, Helvetica"]Because sturgeon have protective bony plates instead of scales like other fish, age is read from the pectoral fins (the fins behind the sturgeon's head).[/font]



[font "Arial, Helvetica"]The biggest sturgeon caught this year was 6.5 feet long and 122 pounds. The smallest was 40 pounds.[/font]











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The CMU researchers began netting in mid-March when the sturgeon begin their spawning run. The nets were set daily at 8 p.m., and were retrieved in the morning about the same time. One hundred yards long and eight feet high, the nets stretch along the bottom of the Manistee Lake and near the river's mouth.[/font]







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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]Male sturgeon don't become mature until they are 12-14 years old and spawn every two or three years after that,and females mature when they are between 15-20 and only spawn every five or six years.[/font]



[font "Arial, Helvetica"]CMU will continue the lake sturgeon research next year. "It's because of their slow reproduction rate that they're vulnerable to exploitation", Holmok said.[/font]





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[font "Arial, Helvetica"]Sturgeon are protected by state law and their possession is illegal. They are also one of the two types of fish that eat zebra mussels.[/font]









[font "Arial, Helvetica"]Photos by Patrick Stefanick[/font][/black][/font]
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