In March, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) received funding from the Disney Conservation Fund for its work to support lake sturgeon recovery efforts in New York and lead outreach and education programs to inspire appreciation for this prehistoric freshwater fish and state Threatened Species. More on that announcement at "NYSG Receives Disney Conservation Fund Support for Lake Sturgeon Restoration Efforts." Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)-New York Field Office.

Contact:

Jesse M. Lepak, Ph.D., New York Sea Grant's Fisheries and Ecosystem Specialist, P: 315-312-3042, E: jml78@cornell.edu

Ithaca, NY, September 4, 2019 - Baby lake sturgeon are on the minds of fish and scientists alike.



New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and USFWS biologists and managers monitor lake sturgeon spawning closely to better understand lake sturgeon, and (as seen in the photo above) also to collect eggs from adult sturgeon to help with recovery efforts.



The general idea is to raise some sturgeon in controlled, predator-free hatcheries to increase their survival to a size (like the 6 to 8 inch-long lake sturgeon being stocked in the St. Regis River in the video above) where they are much less vulnerable to predators in the wild.



While the process is a lot more complicated than this, basically scientists and managers turn eggs (like the ones in the photo above, at left) into fish that eventually grow up to be like their larger parents (like the sturgeon in the photo above, at right).


Credit: Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper

See if you can spot Safari Mickey in the photo above of students from Niagara Falls High School, who had the chance to learn more about lake sturgeon during a visit to an exhibit at the Aquarium of Niagara. The day was coordinated as part of the Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper's Young Environmental Leaders Program in collaboration with the USFWS and NYSG.

These efforts are supported in part by the Disney Conservation Fund. For information on Disney’s commitment to conserve nature and a complete list of grant recipients, visit www.disney.com/conservation.


A juvenile lake sturgeon reared at Genoa National Fish Hatchery in Genoa, Wisconsin. This fish is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's work to restore lake sturgeons to the Great Lakes. Credit: Katie Steiger-Meister for Genoa National Fish Hatchery, USFWS-Midwest Region (via Flickr).

Partners on this effort include: NYSDEC, USFWS, NY Sturgeon for Tomorrow, U.S. Geological Survey, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (SRMT) Environment Division, Aquarium of Niagara, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.