One of New York’s rarest native fish is making a comeback in a place it hasn’t spawned for generations.
The Department of Environmental Conservation says 1,000 young lake sturgeon were released into Cattaraugus Creek this week as part of a long-term plan to restore the historic population. The effort marks the first step in a 25-year project aimed at reestablishing the fish in one of its former spawning grounds along Lake Erie.
The DEC is partnering with the Seneca Nation of Indians and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which raised the eight-inch fish at a hatchery in Wisconsin. After the long trip, each sturgeon was tagged and released into the creek, where they’ll begin a slow journey toward maturity in Lake Erie. In eight to ten years, many are expected to return and spawn.
The creek once supported annual sturgeon harvests, according to the Seneca Nation’s traditional ecological knowledge. But today, only two wild spawning populations remain in Lake Erie — near Buffalo and in the St. Clair-Detroit River system.
Officials estimate that by 2040, the stocking program will result in roughly 750 adult sturgeon returning to spawn in Cattaraugus Creek.
Lake sturgeon are among the largest and longest-lived freshwater fish in New York, with some reaching seven feet in length and living over a century. Because of their low numbers, fishing for them is banned in the state.
The release is part of a broader effort laid out in the New York State Lake Sturgeon Recovery Plan. DEC says that plan is currently being updated to reflect the new restoration work happening on Cattaraugus Creek.
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