One of six mobile sturgeon rearing facilities on Lake Michigan is now stationed at the New Richmond Bridge Park on the Kalamazoo River. There are now two mobile facilities in Wisconsin, two in the U.P., and two on Michigan’s West Coast (the other in Manistee), paid for by federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds.

Great Lakes Sturgeon – USFWS Photo

The mobile facility has capacity to handle 2,000 young sturgeon.  In its first year, it’s planning to release approximately 100 eight- to ten-inch sturgeon into the Kalamazoo River in September, with hopes to double that in future years.  Sturgeon surveys indicate that there are only 60 mature sturgeon left in the river and it is hoped that the population decline can be reversed through these restocking efforts.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers a website with links to research and other information on Great Lakes sturgeon.   More information on efforts to restore a healthy sturgeon population to the Kalamazoo River can be found on the Kalamazoo River Sturgeon for Tomorrow website.