Acoustic Receivers In The Saginaw Bay Watershed Will Help Track Threatened Sturgeon

Article source: WSGW

A new project using a sophisticated system of receivers across Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron will help guide researchers in their efforts to return state-threatened lake sturgeon to the Saginaw Bay system.

Sturgeon will be implanted with transmitters before they are released into four rivers – Cass, Flint, Shiawassee, and Tittabawassee – so that researchers can track them as they pass receivers located in the river systems and Saginaw Bay. Little is known currently about where stocked sturgeon spend their time, and this new information will help guide the future of the multi-year restoration program. Partners in the effort recently announced that 4,000 sturgeon have been released into the system since 2017. Beginning in 2022, 160 sturgeon will be implanted with transmitters and they will be monitored with a new array of 45 receivers in the Bay and river system.

The project is largely funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System and the Saginaw Bay WIN program, with additional partners including the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey.