Threatened Fish
In addition to commercial fishing, which removed millions of adult sturgeon from the lakes, the remaining sturgeon population faced a growing number of threats. Newly constructed dams blocked access to river spawning habitat. Other spawning locations were destroyed by sedimentation from farming and logging and increasing industrial pollution. These changes,combined with the sturgeon’s slow growth, led to its dramatic decline. The current lake sturgeon population is estimated to be one percent of its historic abundance in Michigan.
