- FWS photo

- FWS photo

Under a reimbursable agreement with the Grand Portage Tribe of Lake Superior Chippewa and in cooperation with the 1854 Tribal Authority, the Ashland Fishery Resources Office (FRO) continued capture and equipment assistance for a lake sturgeon telemetry study in the St. Louis River, Minnesota/Wisconsin. 

Historically, the St. Louis River supported a large reproducing population of lake sturgeon.  The population was eliminated by the early 1900’s and is currently in restoration.  The purpose of the study is to use telemetry to identify juvenile and sub-adult lake sturgeon habitat on a seasonal basis. This information will then be used to support restoration. 

The Ashland FRO provided a smallcraft trawler and operator/biologist to collect juvenile/sub-adult lake sturgeon for radio tagging in the lower St. Louis River.  In 2006, a total of nine sturgeon were targeted for radio tagging, with five specimens captured by the Ashland trawler, and four captured by anglers. 

Tracking during the summer and fall of 2006 indicates that the sturgeon are moving very little, with half of the nine tagged sturgeon occupying water less than 10 feet in depth, and the remainder in water 15-18 feet deep.  The sturgeon in shallower water are displaying more movement than the sturgeon in deeper water.  Approximately, ten additional lake sturgeon will be radio tagged in 2007.