Fisheries biologists and students from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture say there’s good news as they sample for the presence of lake sturgeon in East Tennessee rivers.
Lake sturgeon that once thrived in Tennessee are being reintroduced into the Tennessee River system near Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge on the French Broad River by organizations, including UT, in the multi-partner Saving the Sturgeon program.
In addition to their other efforts with the Saving Sturgeon program, which include raising the fish for release, UT biologists with the conservation fisheries program in the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries have conducted surveys for sturgeons for two years at points along the river system in Knox, Blount and Loudon counties.
Sampling in November using trotlines downstream of the Buck Karnes Bridge in Knoxville found 13 sturgeon of a range of sizes and ages, indicating that multiple years of introductions of sturgeons have been successful. The team found most of the fish with trotline sampling in the area of the Pellissippi Parkway Bridge in Blount County. A few of the sturgeons appeared to be eight years old and several others were two years old.
“The success we’re finding through the sampling shows that the reintroductions are working,” says UT professor Larry Wilson of the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries. “We’re seeing that the sturgeon are dispersing from sites where they’ve been introduced and moving up and down the river systems, including through dams and locks.”
Wilson notes another promising sign is that fishermen are reporting that they are occasionally catching sturgeon in area TVA lakes. The fish’s unusual appearance has sparked questions, with several fishermen contacting Wilson to determine just what it is they caught. He reminds anglers that lake sturgeon are considered endangered in Tennessee and must be released when caught.
“I’d like to ask area fishermen to contact me when they catch these fish,” Wilson says. “Their information on where they caught the fish, the size of the fish and any photos they can provide will help us in determining how the fish are dispersing, as well as the ages of the fish that are traveling along the waterways.”
Sturgeons are generally regarded as the most primitive surviving bony fishes. Bony plates cover their heads and extend in five patches along the body to the tail, which is asymmetrical and shark-like in shape. They can be recognized by their long shovel-shaped snout under which is a sucker-like mouth with thick, fleshy lips. The mouth is adapted to working the water bottom where they pick up small animals for food.
To report sighting a sturgeon, email Wilson at jlwilson@tennessee.edu or call 865-974-7982.
The conservation fisheries program at the UT Institute of Agriculture conducts work to improve the ecology and health of Tennessee rivers and waterways. Courses in the program educate fisheries students and the public about ways to reestablish aquatic populations that have been lost due to pollution. In a dramatically successful program, institute biologists have been successful in reintroducing 20 species of fish, representing 30,000 individual fish, into the once polluted Pigeon River, an effort that is continuing to restore the river to its once thriving ecosystem.
The UT Institute of Agriculture provides teaching, research and outreach through the colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and Veterinary Medicine; AgResearch, including its system of 10 research and education centers; and UT Extension with offices in every Tennessee county.
The Saving the Sturgeon Program is a coordinated effort that includes the UT Institute of Agriculture, TVA, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
