Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Missouri
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Identifying and documenting spawning by Lake Sturgeon is critical to achieve recovery and is central to many of the objectives in the 2021 draft revised recovery plan. Therefore, the recovery of Lake Sturgeon cannot be achieved without the documentation of spawning and natural recruitment to a sustainable level. The proposed project would address this critical need and help inform the recovery and potential for a future recreational fishery of Lake Sturgeon. Nearly all decisions related to Lake Sturgeon recovery (e.g., should we stock Lake Sturgeon? Where are critical habitats we need to protect? Can we eventually open a limited recreational fishery?) are linked to identifying if Lake Sturgeon spawn, where that is located, and if the progeny recruit to the population.