Calling all volunteers: guard Michigan's sturgeon against poachers this spring

Sturgeon for Tomorrow is once again seeking volunteers to join in its annual effort, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, to help protect sturgeon from poaching.

Each spring, mature lake sturgeon, a fish species that is threatened in Michigan and rare throughout the United States, become vulnerable to poaching as they briefly leave Black Lake in Cheboygan County for spawning sites in the Black River.

Hundreds of volunteers are needed to stand guard along the Black River during the spawning season, from mid-April through early June, to report any suspicious activity and deter the unlawful take of this prized fish.

"For over a decade, the annual Sturgeon Guarding Program has proven that citizens who watch over the river have greatly reduced poaching while helping to ensure the protection and proliferation of the species," said Ann Feldhauser, a DNR retiree and the program's volunteer coordinator. "It's a unique and rewarding experience to witness the sight of these majestic fish, which can live up to 100 years and weigh over 200 pounds, swimming up the Black River and to take part in safeguarding one of Michigan's most valuable natural resources."

When spawning begins, sturgeon guards are assigned in shifts to sites along the river. The volunteers stand watch and, if necessary, use cellular phones provided by Sturgeon for Tomorrow, to contact DNR conservation officers who are actively patrolling the area in support of the guarding effort. Aerial surveillance is also deployed to secure the area and deter illegal activity.

Many opportunities are available for those who wish to help. Coordinators will be on-site to assist and answer questions. In addition to guarding the fish, volunteers can also play a key role by recording the number and activity of fish they see.

Individuals or groups interested in volunteering should contact Ann Feldhauser at 906-201-2484 or register online at www.sturgeonfortomorrow.org/guarding-program.php.

For those traveling from outside the local area, several hotels, restaurants and Onaway State Park (located on Black Lake) are very close to the critical guarding locations. Volunteers are also encouraged to set up their rustic camps along the banks of the Black River. There is no charge for camping on the state land adjacent to the Black River.

Lake sturgeon rehabilitation in the Cheboygan River watershed is a cooperative effort involving the Black Lake Chapter of Sturgeon for Tomorrow, the DNR, Michigan State University and Tower-Kleber Limited Partnership. In addition to the guarding program, this effort includes activities such as tagging sturgeon adults and raising young fish for stocking.

To learn more about sturgeon population and management in Michigan, visit www.michigan.gov/sturgeon.

2012 Lake Sturgeon Spawning

SPAWNING UPDATE

Monday, April 9, 2012

We accomplished a tremendous amount of good sturgeon work today at the Shawano spawning site and beyond………

• dip netted, captured, and PIT tagged almost 300 lake sturgeon;
• collected sperm from about 75 males and eggs from 15 females for various restoration projects;
• conducted river-side seminars on sturgeon biology and life history with over 100 interested publics and several school classes;
• completed interviews with 2 Television crews, 1 radio crew, and a couple of newspapers on the 2012 sturgeon run; and
• finished all of the tagging, egg taking, seminaring, and interviewing in time to drive up to 2 hours to represent Fisheries at the annual Spring Conservation Congress meetings in 10 counties in our work unit (10 of our crew including myself).

The sturgeon came into the Shawano site consistently all day and it appears they may spawn out in a couple more days or by mid to late week. Fish also moved into a couple of other sites downstream from Shawano so this thing isn't over yet. I expect fish could show up at other sites as well and extend the season even beyond the big push at Shawano

We're ready to roll tomorrow with the full crew at Shawano capturing and tagging spawning lake sturgeon. The images on the "Sturgeon Cam" tell us it should be another big day. Check them out...

Wolf River Cam at Shawano Dam - underwater (exit DNR)

Wolf River Cam at Shawano Dam II- above water. (exit DNR)

Call the sturgeon hotline number for recorded daily updates: (920) 303-5444.

Sturgeon Guard

• Volunteer to guard sturgeon at their spawning sites on the Wolf River and protect the fish from poaching.

Track the Rivers

• Track the Wolf River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)
• Track the upper Fox River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)

Lake Sturgeon Spawning/Viewing Locations on the Wolf River

Maps open to larger images. Sites are listed from North to South.

Shawano Dam in Shawano - Parking available on the east side of the river at the end of Richmond Street.

Bamboo Bend at Shiocton - on County Highway 54. Parking available on the north side of County Hwy. 54.

Wolf River Sturgeon Trail (near New London) - about 2 miles west of New London on County Highway X. Parking available on the south side of the river about 1/2 mile from the spawning site

During mid-April to early May, Lake Sturgeon travel upstream to their spawning grounds, giving the public a prime opportunity to see these
ancient ones up close.

Sturgeon spawning is dependent on water temperature and flow. During seasons when water flow is high and water temperatures rise slowly, spawning begins when water temperature reaches 53 degrees Fahrenheit. In contrast, during seasons of low water flow and more rapid water temperature rise, spawning does not begin until water temperatures reach 58-59 degrees Fahrenheit. (End – WDNR release)

Photos below taken and posted by John E. Durben, President, WCSFO. Click on photos to enlarge.

April 9, 2012

     

The tails from the Spawning Sturgeon resemble a scene from the movie Jaws as they’ve come to a Dead-end at the foot of the Dam in Shawano, WI.  Members of the WDNR crew haul a fish up the west bank of the Wolf River to check to see if it has been tagged. If  it isn’t tagged they will tag it before they release the fish. Other information about each fish is gathered as well.

     

Another fish is caught in the landing nets to be processed for tagging and release. This guy is riding the slide back down to the River after being released.

     

The water churns while the fish perform their annual ritual. The right photo shows the Dam which is the end of the line for this journey. Many others have spawned down river by this time.

April 10, 2012

     

The crew moved to the center of the Wolf River today. The fish are all around them which makes it easier than tripping over the rocks on the river bottom or carrying those heavy fish up the hill as they did yesterday.

     

Although you can barely see the constant mist from the water flowing through the Dam, you can’t see the occasional snow flakes blown around by the wind. It had to be cold out there. The guy in the center is wrestling a Sturgeon to the platform to get measured and tagged. One of the Sturgeon has a Lamprey hitchhiking on it’s back.

2012 Lake Sturgeon Spawning Saturday, March 24, 2012

SPAWNING UPDATE

I am sending out my sturgeon spawning report early today (and cancelling any thought of heading to Vegas). As good as we think we are in predicting what these fish are going to do and when they are going to spawn, the fish always win. The cold and abundant rain yesterday caused the water temperatures to drop a couple of degrees and the fish that were spawning finished over night and we found no new fish in to carry on the heavy 2012 spawning activity today. The crew mopped up about a dozen fish at Bamboo Bend this morning and are working fish at a couple of other private sites in the Shiocton area. The heaviest concentration of fish today seems to be below the Manawa dam on the Little Wolf River - this is a site where the public can also get a good look at the fish. Looking at the weather forecast and the behavior of the fish this spring, my next best guess as to when things will pick up again at the spawning sites that still need to come in from Shiocton to Shawano, is that fish won't come into these sites for a few days - perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday or later. It is entirely possible that Shawano could come in earlier or later than Wednesday - we'll keep an eye out and let you know.

The start, stop, and start again spawning behavior is typical of our lake sturgeon and probably other sturgeon species as well. Each female is on her own biological clock and will ovulate when she is finally ready, not before; and once she starts spawning she will keep spawning for the next 8-12 hours until she is finished. Water temperature is important, but the rate of warming is critical with the fish not only spawning at a wide range of temperatures (so they do not all lay their eggs at the same time), but not until they are ready to spawn (the females that is). Males are pretty much ready all the time once the females start showing up, and they will remain ready for weeks to take advantage of an ovulating female that arrives at a spawning site. Males also will not only spawn with many females over 4-5 weeks, but also will spawn at numerous sites - wherever they can find females that are ovulating or waiting to ovulate.

Once females finish spawning they will "rest" for a few hours perhaps at the spawning site before they move out - they are quite exhausted and ready to individually drift back downstream to the Winnebago lakes. The males don't head back until the full spawning season is in the books. As such the sex ratio, typically 6:1 males to females, is much more heavily tipped to males if there are "second" and "third" runs.

2012 Lake Sturgeon Spawning

SPAWNING UPDATE

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The 2012 sturgeon spawning season on the Wolf River has officially begun. Sturgeon are now spawning along the Sturgeon trail west of New London on County Highway X. We captured and tagged 75 fish there this afternoon in about 3 hours. To our knowledge this is the only site with active spawning at this time, but there were fish on shore this evening at Bamboo Bend west of Shiocton and, although they were not actively spawning, will likely be spawning there by tomorrow afternoon if not sooner. There are also fish below the Shawano dam, again they don't appear to be spawning there yet either, but their numbers are beginning to build in the river below the dam. I expect spawning could commence in Shawano and numerous other sites on the river system sometime in the next 4 to 5 days.

Many people have asked if we have ever seen the fish spawn this early before. We have only been keeping records since 1950 and since that time we have not seen the sturgeon spawn this early before (the earliest since 1950 would have been the first week in April). But - old weather records indicate that 1938 was also very warm in mid to late March and it is very possible that sturgeon may have spawned in March that year as well. In fact we have some adult sturgeon in our population spawning this year that would have also spawned in the early warm spring of 1938! These would be the 90 to 100 year old and older females or the 180+ pound fish we have in our population.

Wolf River Cam at Shawano Dam - underwater (exit DNR)

Wolf River Cam at Shawano Dam II- above water. (exit DNR)

Call the sturgeon hotline number for recorded daily updates: (920) 303-5444.

Sturgeon Guard

• Volunteer to guard sturgeon at their spawning sites on the Wolf River and protect the fish from poaching.

Track the Rivers

• Track the Wolf River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)
• Track the upper Fox River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)

Lake Sturgeon Spawning/Viewing Locations on the Wolf River

Maps open to larger images. Sites are listed from North to South.

Shawano Dam in Shawano - Parking available on the east side of the river at the end of Richmond Street.

Bamboo Bend at Shiocton - on County Highway 54. Parking available on the north side of County Hwy. 54.

Wolf River Sturgeon Trail (near New London) - about 2 miles west of New London on County Highway X. Parking available on the south side of the river about 1/2 mile from the spawning site

During mid-April to early May, Lake Sturgeon travel upstream to their spawning grounds, giving the public a prime opportunity to see these
ancient ones up close.

Sturgeon spawning is dependent on water temperature and flow. During seasons when water flow is high and water temperatures rise slowly, spawning begins when water temperature reaches 53 degrees Fahrenheit. In contrast, during seasons of low water flow and more rapid water temperature rise, spawning does not begin until water temperatures reach 58-59 degrees Fahrenheit.