Since 2000, the Tennessee Aquarium and its partners in the Southeast Lake Sturgeon Working Group have raised and released a staggering 430,000 state-endangered Lake Sturgeon into the Tennessee River and Cumberland River watersheds in an effort to restore this ancient fish to its native waterways.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the reintroduction program's first release in 2000. Lake Sturgeon is listed as a state-endangered species in Tennessee. The last time a wild-born representative of this prehistoric river giant was found in the Tennessee River was 1963.
The species later disappeared from the Volunteer State due to a combination of overfishing, poor water quality and damming practices.
The Tennessee Aquarium is one of the founding members of the Southeast Lake Sturgeon Working Group, which was formed in 1998 to establish a self-sustaining population of Lake Sturgeon in the river system.
The Aquarium and its partners, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Valley Authority and many others, have raised and returned hundreds of thousands of Lake Sturgeon to the Tennessee River and Cumberland River watersheds since 2000.
These juveniles hatched from eggs collected from wild-spawning Lake Sturgeon in Wisconsin, where the species' numbers remain abundant. Aquarium biologists raised these juveniles over the summer at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute’s (TNACI) freshwater field station.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary, about 500 Lake Sturgeon measuring six to twelve inches long will be released into the Tennessee River near Coolidge Park at the canoe/kayak launch underneath the Market Street Bridge on Thursday, Oct. 23 at Noon.
Freshwater scientists from TNACI will be joined by 30 Hixson High School students and community leaders, who will gently release the juvenile Lake Sturgeon by hand into the Tennessee River. This release event is open to the public.