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<\/a>Jorden McKenna, a graduate student earning her master\u2019s degree in biology in the Department of Environmental Sciences, is helping track newly released juvenile lake sturgeon in Lake Erie fitted with acoustic telemetry tags that report the fish\u2019s position.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWhat makes sturgeon pretty fascinating is the fact that they are a prehistoric species,\u201d said McKenna, who is from Pittsburgh and earned her bachelor\u2019s degree at Kent State University. \u201cI get to study and work on the dinosaur of the Great Lakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s gearing up for a big weekend. The community is invited to the Toledo Zoo\u2019s third sturgeon release since 2018 into the Maumee River from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2. The event is free. Attendees can release one baby sturgeon per person as well as sponsor a fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that I get to be a part of reintroducing sturgeon to the Maumee River and hopefully help them reestablish a natural spawning population is extremely exciting to me,\u201d McKenna said.\u00a0\u201cThey are a very important and iconic species in the Great Lakes, and it would be amazing to see their population numbers increase in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecovering lake sturgeon populations is critically important because lake sturgeon are an indicator of ecosystem health,\u201d said Dr. Bill Hintz, assistant professor of ecology and McKenna\u2019s faculty advisor. \u201cIf lake sturgeon are doing well, that might indicate that there is sufficient habitat and water quality is good.\u201d<\/p>\n
After surviving for 200 million years, sturgeon \u2014 which don\u2019t have teeth and can grow to 8 feet long, weigh up to 300 pounds and live to 150 years old \u2014 are an endangered species in Ohio and a threatened species in Michigan.<\/p>\n
Lake sturgeon were abundant in the Maumee River in the 1800s, but the demand for caviar and fuel, as well as commercial over-fishing, caused the population to decline and ultimately disappear.<\/p>\n
In 2016, UToledo helped the Toledo Zoo and other collaborators acquire federal grant money to build a sturgeon rearing facility at the Toledo Zoo along the Maumee River, which flows into Lake Erie.<\/p>\n
<\/a>In 2016, UToledo helped the Toledo Zoo and other collaborators acquire federal grant money to build a sturgeon rearing facility at the Toledo Zoo along the Maumee River, which flows into Lake Erie.<\/p><\/div>\n
Dr. Jessica Collier, who at the time was a doctoral student researcher in the Department of Environmental Sciences, assisted the project by verifying that spawning and nursery habitat still exists in the Maumee River to sustain a population of the fish.<\/p>\n
Collier is now a fish biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m thrilled this research is continuing and investigating where and how the young sturgeon are moving throughout the Maumee River and using different habitats,\u201d Collier said. \u201cThe initial work to develop habitat suitability models to support lake sturgeon reintroduction was just the beginning, and using acoustic telemetry to identify habitat use by young sturgeon will help us better understand our predictive habitat models. Looking to the future, this work will be essential to help us assess other Lake Erie rivers for lake sturgeon reintroduction and help us adaptively manage habitat assessments for these amazing fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the sturgeon rearing facility was built, thousands of the fish have been released into the Maumee River when they\u2019re six months old and about seven inches long.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn both 2018 and 2019, a few fish were fitted with acoustic transmitters,\u201d McKenna said. \u201cLake Erie has an array of acoustic receivers which are part of the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System that picks up detections when a \u2018tagged\u2019 fish swims near a receiver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each detection records a timestamp, creating a timeline of detections. This allows McKenna to see where the fish go after they are released.<\/p>\n
From the UToledo Lake Erie Center, McKenna conducts her research, which she describes as putting a puzzle of data together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe data collected from the receiver network are complex,\u201d McKenna said. \u201cI am using a variety of statistical techniques to piece together survival rates, movement patterns and habitat use of the sturgeon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partners in the sturgeon recovery group targeting the Maumee River include UToledo, Toledo Zoo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuccessful reintroduction relies on understanding juvenile populations, but little is known about juvenile survival, movement patterns and habitat selection post-spawning,\u201d McKenna said. \u201cThe purpose of my project is aiming to close this knowledge gap and piece together a complex puzzle, which will help to inform restoration and conservation management strategies, allowing managers to make adjustments to promote the recovery of lake sturgeon in the Maumee River and elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
McKenna credits her faculty advisor and committee members with playing a large role in her research success.<\/p>\n