Lake Sturgeon being tagged underneath one of the scutes with a coded wire tag at the genoa national fish hatchery.

Long time volunteers Chuck Snyder and Gill Gainsworth tagging through a batch of sturgeon at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery.

During the summer of 2008, the crew of the Genoa National Fish Hatchery (NFH) and Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Fisheries Services (FUMFS) volunteers Chuck Snyder, Gill Gainsworth, Chuck Chihak and daughter Laura coded wire tagged 23,000 of its approximately 60,000 6” lake sturgeon for stocking into the White Earth and Red Lake Reservations of Minnesota. The entire tagging operation took approximately 80 hours to accomplish.  Each fish received a tiny stainless steel sliver of metal wire injected intramuscularly. The tag is approximately 1/16th of an inch long and cannot be seen on the fish once it is injected. However, with the use of a metal detecting wand, the tag can be identified. This method aids fishery management biologists in determining the effectiveness of each restoration program by distinguishing between hatchery and wild fish.  Each year, the sturgeon are tagged in a different location in order to differentiate year classes during sampling.  Since 1994, the Genoa NFH has been working to restore lake sturgeon populations which have declined due to the loss of habitat, pollution, and overfishing. The species is considered either threatened or endangered in all but one (Wisconsin) of the historical 20 states within its range.  The Genoa NFH cooperates with the La Crosse National Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office and the La Crosse Fish Health Lab to annually provide sturgeon to the states of Missouri, and Minnesota as well as tribal governments in Wisconsin and Minnesota.