Chinese and FWS Scientists conclude Yangtze River site visits.

Genoa (WI) hatchery manager Doug Aloisi recently presented efforts to conserve the Endangered Chinese sturgeon,  Dabry's sturgeon, and Chinese paddlefish  to the bi-annual Great Lakes Lake sturgeon meeting held at Port Huron, Michigan and sponsored by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust in December. The presentation was a cooperative effort of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the information provided was gathered as part of a cooperative researcher exchange program signed by the Chinese Government and the Fish and Wildlife Service's Department of International Affairs. It is hoped that information gathered by Chinese scientists can be applied to further conservation efforts of the Lake Sturgeon in the Great Lakes Basin.  The Great Lakes Fishery Trust sponsors this meeting to coordinate and exchange information to encourage lake sturgeon restoration throughout the Great Lakes basin.  Lake sturgeon populations are reduced and at risk throughout much of the Great Lakes basin due to historical overharvest, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and pollution, much like fish populations in the Yangtze River in China.  Conservation efforts in China include propagation and fingerling stocking, development of captive broodstock, and setting up refugia in captivity and selected areas in the wild to slow the decline of Endangered fauna through large water development projects.