La Crosse FRO biologists tag a lake sturgeon captured from Legend Lake with a Passive Integrated Transponder on Oct. 6 as part of a population study on the Menominee Indian Reservation. - USFWS photo by Heidi Keuler

The La Crosse Fishery Resources Office began the annual lake sturgeon survey on Legend Lake of the Menominee Indian Reservation (Wisconsin) on October 5.  Gill nets were set overnight for two nights in the first of three weeks of sampling scheduled for this fall.  A total of 77 lake sturgeon up to 53 inches and 31 lbs in size were sampled.  Lake sturgeon are tagged with Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT) which experience minimal tag loss and allow biologists to track a complete capture history of each fish tagged.  Almost half (34) of the fish were captured and tagged in previous years of sampling.  Additional sampling during this fall will allow biologists to conduct a population estimate and set a harvest quota for the 2006 sturgeon season.

Lake sturgeon management on the reservation follows a management plan produced by a multi-agency committee that formed in 1992 to enhance Menominee Reservation lake sturgeon populations.  The first annual population survey was conducted on Legend Lake in the fall of 1996, when only one lake sturgeon was collected after a full week of netting and electrofishing.  The lake sturgeon population is now of adequate size to support a limited fishery.