Belle Isle Habitat Project
The Detroit River ecosystem supports a remnant population of lake sturgeon. In 2004, Michigan Sea Grant led a consortium of federal, state and private groups in the construction of three sturgeon spawning reefs in the waters off Belle Isle. One reef is made of limestone rock, another cobblestone, and a third contains coal cinders—materials used by spawning lake sturgeon in other areas of the Great Lakes. Biologists monitor the reefs to measure sturgeon spawning success. The project represents the largest effort to date to restore a primitive, wild fish within a large urban area in the Great Lakes region.
