Bryant: Nearly 1,000 sturgeon released in Genesee
Long runs the list of beautiful sights in a Rochester autumn. The falling leaves. The baskets of fresh apples. The hundreds of baby lake sturgeon swirling counter-clockwise down into the Genesee River.
These wriggly little babies are on the front lines of their species' fight for survival. Lake sturgeon had thrived in water bodies like the Genesee River and Lake Ontario for more than 100 million years. Having shared the Earth with the dinosaurs, they reigned as the oldest and largest fish native to the Great Lakes. Sadly, human behavior in the 20th century — overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction — nearly did them in.
In the early part of the 21st century, water quality in the Genesee River had improved, and the United States Geological Survey started hatching sturgeon to reintroduce into the river. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Seneca Park Zoo have joined the effort to rebuild the population, and since 2003, more than 5,000 sturgeon have been placed into the river.
The most recent release of about 950 babies took place a couple of weeks ago near Seth Green Island, which is a good place for them to find food. I rode along on the boat up the Genesee and wished the sturgeon good luck as they began their new lives in the wild. The sturgeon were a couple of inches long at release, but they may grow to more than 7 feet and 300 pounds. Female sturgeon can live up to 150 years.
Scientists are monitoring their progress with various recapture studies, including some that will be used to judge the health of the Genesee River. USGS research ecologist Dawn Dittman, a leader of the sturgeon project, said they are doing well. An estimated 93.5 percent of the 1,047 fish stocked in October 2013 were still present in October 2014. Dittman found a sturgeon earlier this year that was 40 inches long and weighed 25 pounds.
The DEC has committed to releasing 1,000 fish each year from 2013 to 2023. By then, hopefully sturgeon will start making their own babies.The species takes about 20 years to reach reproductive maturity. Dittman is trying to get funding to study potential spawning habitats and ways they might be improved before the oldest reintroduced fish are ready to reproduce in about five years.
Sturgeon spend much of their time at the bottom of the water and are characterized by an uneven tail, long torpedo shape and bony back and side plates. Fishermen who catch them should throw them back because the species remains threatened and are illegal to possess.
"Every sturgeon counts," said Jeff Wyatt, chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine at the University of Rochester and the director of wildlife health conservation at the Seneca Park Zoo. He encourages fishermen to check for a yellow tag on the fish, which should have a phone number that a person can call to report sturgeon observation and location information that can help with data collection.
People can help protect sturgeons' habitat by avoiding behaviors that pollute the Genesee River and Lake Ontario. For example, do not dump toxins like cleaning fluids and motor oil down storm drains. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that American households improperly dump about 193 million gallons of used oil every year, or roughly the equivalent of 17 Exxon Valdez oil spills.
Honestly, the sturgeon looked a little startled as the hatch at the bottom of the boat opened and they started getting sucked down into the Genesee. By now, though, they have probably gotten used to their new home. Let's do what we can to keep that home clean and hospitable for the years to come.
Erica Bryant is the Pay It Forward columnist. Contact her at Ebryant@gannett.com.