Contact: Rebecca Fedewa (Flint River Watershed Coalition), 810-767-6490; Meaghan Gass (Michigan Sea Grant Extension), 989-895-4026, ext. 5, or Mike Kelly (The Conservation Fund), 989-892-9172
Sept. 17, 2019
 Join a group of local, state and federal partners this week to reintroduce 125 hatchery-reared juvenile lake sturgeon into the Saginaw Bay Watershed during a public event, 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, in Flint, Michigan. The release on the Flint River will include:
“This event is a great opportunity to learn more about the importance of lake sturgeon,” said Jim Dexter, DNR fisheries chief. “Visitors will get to see, and even get in the water to release, these prehistoric fish.” The release will take place at the Mott Park Recreation Area, 2701 Nolen Drive, with event parking near Paddlers’ Landing. The event also will serve as the official ribbon-cutting for Paddlers’ Landing, a crowd-funded drive to improve recreation access to the Flint River. The event is part of the Saginaw Bay Watershed Lake Sturgeon Restoration, an effort led by the DNR and partners to re-establish lake sturgeon in the Saginaw Watershed through the Cass, Flint, Shiawassee and Tittabawassee rivers. The lake sturgeon, about 5 to 7 inches long, were reared at the USFWS National Fish Hatchery in Genoa, Wisconsin. The adult source population for the lake sturgeon were collected near Port Huron. Learn more about the lake sturgeon restoration efforts and additional partners on the Saginaw Bay sturgeon website. |
