Saving Sturgeon
Ancient fish face increasingly tough times
By Janet Raloff
On a fine spring day alongside a Wisconsin river, several biologists wrestle a muscular, 120-pound fish onto her back and straddle her. The moves wouldn’t be out of place in a rodeo. As the team restrains her, one member massages her swollen belly, working her eggs out of a release vent and into a plastic pail. The late-April scene occurs as, throughout the northern Midwest, water temperatures climb above 56°F (13°C) and lake sturgeon swim upstream to spawn. In several rivers, biologists such as these give Mother Nature an assist.
“This is the highlight of my year,” says Steven J. Fajfer, who supervises propagation of lake sturgeon for the Wild Rose (Wis.) Fish Hatchery.