Ohio wildlife officials expanded their restoration push for the endangered lake sturgeon this year, releasing thousands of juvenile fish into the Cuyahoga River and three other waterways.
The fish were stocked in the Cuyahoga, Sandusky and Scioto rivers for the first time, alongside continued releases in the Maumee.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Toledo Zoo raised the fish. At the same time, Ohio State University biologists tagged a smaller group released in the Scioto to track long-term movement.
The sturgeon, once common in Lake Erie and the Ohio River, vanished from Ohio’s spawning streams more than a century ago after dams blocked access and heavy harvest wiped out their populations.
Biologists say water quality improvements and habitat restoration have made several rivers suitable again.
Early signs from previous releases in the Maumee show rising sturgeon numbers in Lake Erie, giving officials optimism that young fish stocked this year will eventually return to spawn as adults — a process that could take decades for a species that matures slowly and can live for a century.
State wildlife staff plan to continue annual releases in all four rivers to establish a self-sustaining population across the region.
