Fish and Man in Lake Winnebago: Saving the Lake Sturgeon
by Jesse Jensen
Successful Fond du Lac Sturgeon Fishermen (ca. 1950s)
Cruising through the murky water of the Lake Winnebago system there is a fish of immense size and strength. It can grow to over 200 pounds in weight and live for over 100 years. This creature is known as the sturgeon. In Wisconsin, it is hard to find someone who has not heard of this mysterious creature that has inhabited the Earth for over 100 million years. Such fish are famously and avidly sought by those who are knowledgeable about them. Twenty-five species of sturgeon exist today, worldwide. The particular species of sturgeon that thrives in Lake Winnebago is classified as lake sturgeon. Each year, thousands of eager men and women take to the frozen lake with their ice-shanties and spears, creating a virtual sturgeon spearing city for the brief period of the season, all hoping to catch one of these large but passive creatures.
The lake sturgeon has been assigned thirty different scientific names, largely due to the vast variety of color differences that can be seen exhibited by different individuals. In 1817, the Latin name Acipenser fulvescens was given to all lake sturgeon that spend their entire lives in fresh water. 1
Twenty-five different species of lake sturgeon are known to exist in the world today. Of these twenty-five, seven are found in North America. Four are anadromous, spawning in fresh water but living their adult lives in the sea. These include the Atlantic sturgeon, the shortnose sturgeon, white sturgeon, and green sturgeon. The remaining three species indigenous to North America spend their entire lives in fresh water. They are the shovelnose, pallid, and lake sturgeon, all of which can be found in Wisconsin waters. Present distribution of lake sturgeon in Wisconsin encompasses three basins, the Mississippi River, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior. Lake Winnebago, which drains through the Fox River into Green Bay, is classified as located within the Lake Michigan basin. 2 Some stocking of lake sturgeon into other larger bodies of water, including the
Mrs. Marvin Amel with a Lake Winnebago Sturgeon (ca. early 1950s)
Madison chain of lakes in Wisconsin, has taken place. 3 The eggs from the lake sturgeon indigenous to Lake Winnebago are used to re-populate watersheds throughout the original range of the fish.
Since the arrival of Native people in the Lake Winnebago area, lake sturgeon have been sought for their meat and their eggs. In Wisconsin the Menominee were spearing sturgeon for several hundred years before the first European settlers arrived. The Menominee, like many other Native American tribes, have a creation story, and that tribe’s story involves the sturgeon. In their story, the sturgeon was adopted as a brother and keeper of the wild rice. 4 Every spring, the Menominee waited until the sturgeon migrated upriver to spawn, typically in April and May, and then speared them. Sturgeon provided the Menominee with much needed food on which they counted for survival. 5 Their traditional practices were halted when dams were built below the reservation at Shawano in 1892. These lake sturgeon ceremonies were reinstituted in 1993, and today, the Menominee Indians work closely with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to research and study lake sturgeon. The Menominee are allowed to spear an allotted number of sturgeon each year to maintain this tradition. The numbers of lake sturgeon that can be speared by the Menominee are determined by the DNR. Each year this decision is made, based on a current sturgeon population estimate made by the DNR that is in turn largely dependent upon the previous season’s spearing total.
Soon after the arrival of large numbers of European settlers, lake sturgeon became one of several species of animal that were over-harvested, thanks to introduction of commercial fishing. Commercial fishing for salmon, lake perch, and walleyes devastated many other species of fish as well, because fishermen used huge nets. Early methods for netting fish were crude and indiscriminate. Fish that were not considered to be of value were killed and discarded without being used in any way. The lake sturgeon was one of these fish species that was simply treated as waste. The lake sturgeon was actually considered to be a pest, because the fish could ruin nets, due to their size. Fishermen collected the sturgeon entrapped in their nets, stacked them like cordwood on the shore of the water system, and left them to die and rot. Gradually, fish processors realized that money could be made from lake sturgeon. Fish processors discovered a market for sturgeon eggs, prized as caviar, which became and still are prized as a delicacy. They also found that the sturgeon meat was delicious, whether fresh or smoked. The fish also provided leather and oil, and an added bonus from the fish was a high-quality gelatin, called isinglass, which is extracted from the sturgeon’s swim bladder. Isinglass is used to make jellies and as a clarifying agent for alcohol. 6 These new uses for sturgeon products led to an explosion in the Great Lakes sturgeon fishery industry after 1865. During the most concentrated period of fishing, which lasted from 1879 to 1900, the annual commercial catch of lake sturgeon in the Great Lakes averaged over 4 million pounds. In 1885, at the high point of commercial sturgeon fishing, 8.6 million pounds were harvested, of which 5.2 million pounds came from Lake Erie alone. 7
Since 1903, the State of Wisconsin has been involved in the protection and study of sturgeon in state waters. 8 Rapid depletion of the species led the state to ban lake sturgeon spearing and fishing in 1915, and commercial fishing was ended in Lake Michigan in 1929. The total ban remained in effect until 1931. Since 1931 there have been restrictions and special seasons placed on the harvesting of sturgeon in order to preserve the population. Early regulations and restrictions, however, were weak and rarely enforced. This situation changed in 1967 with the creation of the Department of Natural Resources. The agency took over all regulations and enforcement of the environment, including fishing and hunting regulations, air pollution and policies regarding the environment.
Fortunately, the lake sturgeon population in Lake Winnebago did not undergo the commercial fishing pressure that existed on the Great Lakes, mainly because of the lake’s depth, or lack of it. Lake Winnebago is a shallow, murky lake, geologically on its way to become a freshwater marsh like Horicon to the south. Commercial fisherman generally considered the lake to be unsuitable for commercially viable operations with large drag nets. This lack of commercial fishing activity kept lake sturgeon relatively safe in this one part of their habitat.
Within the Department of Natural Resources there are many offices that deal with research and regulation of a particular field. In Oshkosh, Mr. Ron Bruch, Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Department of Natural Resources, is in charge of studying lake sturgeon in the Lake Winnebago system. His dedication and knowledge have been critical to the success of recent regulation of the Lake Winnebago system. Bruch pushed for effective regulation of the number of hours in which spearing is allowed on a given day, along with the number of days that are included in the sturgeon season. He has been interviewed dozens of times and often shares his knowledge and ideas with the public and with interest groups. To help control the possibility of over-fishing, Bruch has supported reduced catch limits on all three classifications of sturgeon in Lake Winnebago. These classifications are juvenile (fish under 40”), adult males, and adult females.
Adult females are the most important category. It is almost impossible to tell the sex of a fish while it is in the water, unless one can observe the fish closely enough to determine that it has a swollen stomach, a clear indication that the fish is a female. A female’s stomach becomes swollen about six months before she is ready to spawn. If the lake sturgeon is over 40 inches long, it is also very likely a female, because males rarely reach that length. The definitive way to determine the sex of a fish, however, is to slice off a piece of its skin and submit it to a laboratory for testing.
One characteristic lake sturgeon share with humans is that females live longer than males. A “prehistoric” characteristic of lake sturgeon is the large swim bladder, which has evolved from a functional lung. While the lake sturgeon is not likely to be mistaken for “Jaws”, it does have a heteroceral (shark-like) tailfin. Lake sturgeon also possess a continuous, flexible, cartilage-encased rod called a notochord instead of the bony skeletal spine of other types of fish. 9 Lake Sturgeon exhibit a wide range of colors. It is believed that the variation in coloration is due to differences in the nutrients in the water from watershed to watershed. Lake sturgeon also are lighter when they are young and gradually become darker with age.
Lake sturgeon have no teeth; when eating they use their “whiskers” to feel for food. When a lake sturgeon senses something edible, it sucks the morsel up through its mouth. Since lake sturgeon are bottom feeders, sediments from the lake or river bottom make their way into the sturgeon’s mouth. These sediments are then filtered through the sturgeon’s gills, and the unwanted or inedible material is released back into the water. Lake sturgeon feed until the water temperature drops to thirty-four degrees. 10
When spawning time comes, the males are the first to arrive upstream. While the females travel alone to spawn, males travel in small groups of up to eight. Although territorial during the summer, lake sturgeon have been tracked up to 125 miles upstream from Lake Winnebago. Spawning time for lake sturgeon is determined by water temperature, just like other fish. 11 The water temperature needs to reach the mid-fifties before the spawning movement begins. When it is time, the female sturgeon deposits her eggs in shallow rocky areas along the bank of a river. These eggs become attached to the rocks and then are fertilized by a male sturgeon. There is a considerable variation in the number of eggs produced by sturgeon, even among fish of the same weight. The quantity can range from 50,000 to 700,000. 12 These eggs are not deposited all at once. Each deposit of the eggs takes seconds, but after each deposit, the female lake sturgeon swims into deep pools in the river and later returns to deposit more eggs. This series of acts usually takes five to eight hours. The fertilized eggs hatch into sac-fry around eight to fourteen days after being deposited. The young lake sturgeon remain hidden in the crevices of rocks and then school up in the deeper water of the river until the end of their first summer, at which time they range in size from five to eight inches. Some lake sturgeon may spend up to five years in the river before finally reaching one of the lakes connected to Lake Winnebago. After hatching, lake sturgeon grows rapidly in length until sexual maturity is reached; but then this trend of rapid growth comes to an end. Both sexes grow at the same rate; female sturgeon are typically larger than males, but this is because of their greater longevity. Sexual maturity for females occurs around the age of twenty-five and at a length of fifty-five inches. Female lake sturgeon only spawn every three to five years, while the males provide milt to fertilize eggs either every year or every other year. 13 The male lake sturgeon reaches its sexual maturity at the age of fifteen when the fish is typically about forty-five inches long. 14 Because of the relatively long time it takes for lake sturgeon to reach sexual maturity, a catastrophic decline, or “crash” in the population would require almost a half-century before the species could replenish itself. Ninety percent of all sturgeon over thirty years old are females. Few fish over the age of 40 are taken from Lake Winnebago, and the oldest one taken for which an age was recorded was 82 years old. In Lake of the Woods, Ontario, the oldest lake sturgeon ever recorded was determined to be 152 years old. It weighed 215 pounds. 15
Efforts have been made to rear sturgeon domestically by collecting eggs and milt from wild sturgeon. The first known attempt at farming lake sturgeon was undertaken in 1875 near the Hudson River in New York. In 1912, this first effort at domestic cultivation of lake sturgeon ceased due to an overall lack of success. More recently, thanks to the improvements in technology and a generally greater understanding of the conditions needed for successful rearing of lake sturgeon, the Department of Natural Resources began to rear sturgeon in Wisconsin in 1982. 16 Research has shown that the lake sturgeon that are reared in captivity tend to be smaller and do not live as long as those that were hatched in the wild. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and the DNR have both addressed the issue of allowing fish farmers to raise sturgeon to sell for caviar and meat. These private fish farmers undoubtedly think that this would be a good idea, but some conservation groups and the DNR itself oppose it, despite the fact that sturgeon farming has been successfully undertaken elsewhere.
In Florida, Blountstown researchers at the University of Florida’s Sam Mitchell Aquaculture Farm harvested 1800 farm-raised Gulf of Mexico sturgeon. This project was created to see if this threatened species could be reared successfully in captivity. Researchers believe that the sturgeon meat could bring in four dollars a pound, which would provide a new and larger source of revenue than the 75 cents a pound that farm-raised catfish bring to their producers. 17 However, in Wisconsin the idea of farming sturgeon is opposed by the DNR because of uncertainty as to what the consequences might be for the natural stocks.
Although the Department of Natural Resources raises lake sturgeon for research and for stocking, the agency claims that, once sturgeon begin to be raised commercially, many problems could occur. One difficulty might be the introduction of diseases into sensitive fisheries where a consequent high death rate could devastate fish populations in that fishery. Another problem could be the disruption of sturgeon genetics, which could conceivably cause a complete crash in populations. A crash in lake sturgeon numbers could result in wild lake sturgeon breeding with fish reared in captivity. Those that are reared in fish farms may not have the same defenses against diseases that wild lake sturgeon possess. Any one of these problems could devastate the fragile lake sturgeon fishery to the point where it would take 50 to 75 years to restore the number of fish to a healthy level. On the other hand, private rearing of lake sturgeon takes place in Minnesota, and no apparent adverse consequences have occurred as a result of that operation, to date.
Since the 1967 formation of the Department of Natural Resources, through its efforts to protect and to improve the State’s resources by enforcement of laws and regulations, the numbers of lake sturgeon have increased in the State of Wisconsin. During this period, other major world sturgeon fisheries, such as in Russia, have seen sturgeon populations plummet due to poaching, over-harvesting, and environmental degradation. “Sturgeon are very good at surviving,” according to Ron Bruch. “They can survive drought, climate changes, food shortages. One thing they cannot survive is over-harvest. They’re very sensitive to too many of them being taken out of the population.” 18
Demand is greatest for female sturgeon, because of the high value that is placed on their eggs as a luxury food. Many world sturgeon habitats have come under enormous stress. Since the damming of the Volga River forty years ago, exacerbated by increasing pollution, and poaching, the population of fish in the Caspian Sea, which supplies 90% of the world’s best caviar, has plummeted. Poaching has flourished since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. The temptations are enormous. In a country where the average wage may only be a few hundred dollars per year, one pound of Beluga caviar, the favored type, in Russia sells for $50 (U.S), while in Western markets a pound of the same caviar can bring close to $1,000. In July 2001, Russia, along with other littoral states including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, signed an agreement implementing a moratorium on sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea. Currently, the principal caviar-exporting nation is Iran, which also borders the Caspian.
During the past thirty years, many non-governmental organizations have become involved in efforts to help protect the lake sturgeon population in Wisconsin. One such group is Sturgeon for Tomorrow (SFT). This organization was formed in 1977 by a group of sturgeon enthusiasts. The organization’s main goals are to help preserve, protect and to enhance the sturgeon resources of the Lake Winnebago system. This group has become the largest citizen advocacy group for sturgeon in the world. Currently there are four chapters with a total of more than 3,000 members. 19 Sturgeon for Tomorrow has donated over $450,000 for sturgeon research and management since its formation, and the group has funded a variety of projects, including the sturgeon guard program, which protects the sturgeon during their spawning period, when they are most vulnerable. Members of Sturgeon for Tomorrow have also been involved in construction of spawning sites for sturgeon on the Wolf River. SFT also donates money to the DNR for managed rearing of lake sturgeon. This program has contributed to many sturgeon restoration programs throughout the Midwest and in Canada.
Over-fishing of the Lake Winnebago population still remains a major concern. During the decade from 1989 to 1999, about 6,200 adult female sturgeon were speared, some 2,000 more than the DNR believed was appropriate, if the fishery is to remain healthy. The average sturgeon speared from Lake Winnebago today is about 23 years old, 52 inches long and weighs nearly 40 pounds. This suggests the time commitment necessary to rebuild a sturgeon population to a point where harvesting is feasible.
The key to sustaining the population is to support a significant number of breeding female sturgeon. According to Ron Bruch of the DNR, “Our main goal is try to grow a bunch of old ladies, old female sturgeons.” Bruch notes that there is little room for error in the matter, due to the slow process of maturation and low rate of reproduction by the fish. “Once you crash a sturgeon population and you go into the mode of active restoration, you will not have reached your restoration goal until 100 years later.” “If we allow the harvest as it has been for another decade like the one from 1985-1995, in all likelihood we would be faced with closing the season completely.” 20
Dick Braasch of Oshkosh, a sturgeon-spearing enthusiast for forty-five years who is active in the conservation group Sturgeon for Tomorrow, said that most of those who spear sturgeon agree with the DNR’s plan to restrict the harvest of sturgeon severely. 21 Local support like this provides a positive and atmosphere in which to manage the resource, to make sure that the sturgeon fishery in Lake Winnebago and the surrounding watersheds continues to improve. Although listed as an endangered species throughout the world, in Wisconsin there have been both a spearing season on Lake Winnebago and a brief hook and line season (on the Lower Wisconsin River) for sturgeon during the past seventy years. The future of the lake sturgeon looks bright, supported as it is by technology and a strong and increasing public interest in saving the lake sturgeon.
With the population of sturgeon in Russian waters almost completely depleted and the demand for caviar continuing to increase, the importance of studying lake sturgeon in the Lake Winnebago region is only likely to increase, as will the number of people illegally taking the fish. Evidence of the growing worldwide interest in the sturgeon of Lake Winnebago can be seen from a recent international conference. Representatives from many countries came to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in July 2001 to learn about the concentration of lake sturgeon in the Lake Winnebago system and how the fish has been preserved and nurtured in the region. This meeting, the Fourth Annual International Sturgeon Symposium, held July 8-13 at the Park Plaza International Hotel, attracted 375 fisheries biologists and other scientists from 23 countries around the world. The assembled delegates heard from local experts and conservation wardens about how they have protected and how they plan to continue to enhance the sturgeon population. Emphasizing a combination of biological management, law enforcement, and public involvement, local scientists offered suggestions to increase the numbers of fish in countries where sturgeon populations have declined. Contrary to Ron Bruch’s earlier estimate, conference attendees were told that the lake sturgeon population has quadrupled in Lake Winnebago during the past forty years. 22
This population supports an annual average combined harvest of over 1300 fish during the winter spear fishery. An estimated 10,000 individuals actively seek to spear lake sturgeon on Lake Winnebago. 23 In recent years, the numbers of people who successfully spear lake sturgeon have increased. In consequence, the season has become greatly shortened, sometimes to a single day, for the DNR ends it as soon as a target number of adult females have been registered. It is believed that the increased rate of success by sturgeon spearers is largely due to the activities of an invasive species of mollusk known as the zebra mussel. Probably introduced into the lake in the ballast water from a pleasure boat, the zebra mussel filters the lake’s water and makes it clearer by consuming algae and other nutrients found in the lake. Prior to the accidental introduction of the zebra mussel, the water in the Lake Winnebago system was much more murky. This lack of water clarity provided the lake sturgeon with extra protection, since it was difficult to see a sturgeon at any depth. Several proposals have been suggested to deal with the consequences of recent increased interest in sturgeon spearing and the improved rate of success, including proposals for years without a season, a permit lottery system, or declaring some sections of the lake out of bounds for sturgeon spearing. 24
Currently a sturgeon must be thirty-six inches long in order for it to be legally speared in Lake Winnebago, and every spearer must be at least fourteen years old. Other rules regulate the use of lights and other gear, and agents check shanties to make sure that all regulations are being followed. Before one sets out to try spearing one of these ancient fish, it is critical to check the rules and regulations, because they vary year to year as the need to protect the spawning population changes.
In Wisconsin the population of lake sturgeon continues to rise, which is a credit to the men and women involved in protecting these primitive fish. As laws and regulations are proposed or adjusted in Wisconsin to protect lake sturgeon, countries that have declining lake sturgeon population will continue to look to emulate Wisconsin’s policies in order to reverse the decline of their own fish stocks. The lake sturgeon has been able to adapt and overcome many challenges. People in the Fox Valley are fortunate to enjoy the largest population of lake sturgeon in the world! As long as Wisconsin can continue to protect and improve the lake sturgeon’s habitat and to regulate the harvest, these ancient fish can continue to thrive.
1 - Gordon R. Priegel, The Lake Sturgeon (Madison: Wisconsin Department of Natural resources, 1971), 3. return
2 - Ibid. return
3 - 2002 Wisconsin Lake Winnebago spearing regulations and information (pamphlet), 1. return
4 - The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin: History: Annual Spring Sturgeon Ceremony. http://www.menominee.nsn.us/History/History/HistoryPages/HistorySturgeonFeastAndCelebrations (link no longer functioning 11/20/2006). 1. return
5 - Ibid., 4. return
6 - University of Hawaii Kapiolani Community College. Eviro-news Listserv http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/praise/news/eh165.html (link no longer functioning 11/20/2006). return
7 - Sturgeon for Tomorrow Website. return
8 - Ibid., 2. return
9 - Priegel, 4. return
10 - Priegel, 5. return
11 - Priegel, 6. return
12 - Ibid. return
13 - John Lyons, James J Kempinger, Movements of Adult Lake Sturgeon in the Lake Winnebago System, (Wisconsin, Madison: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 1992), 1. return
14 - Priegel, 8. return
15 - Steve AreLullemant, Donald Czeskleba, Thomas Thuemler, Artificial Spawning and rearing of Lake Sturgeon at the Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery, (Wisconsin, Madison: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 1983), 8. return
16 - Ibid, 1. return
17 - “UF Project Shows Sturgeon Can Be Successfully Raised in Fish Farms,” University of Florida News, November 5, 1999. return
18 - “Sturgeon Symposium Under Way,” University of Wisconsin News, July 8, 2001. return
19 - 2002 Wisconsin Sturgeon Spearing Regulations. return
20 - “State Seeks to Set Caps for Sturgeon Season,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 20, 1999. return
21 - Ibid. return
22 - “Sturgeon Symposium Under Way,” University of Wisconsin News, July 8, 2001. return
23 - Fourth Annual Sturgeon Symposium Web site. return
24 - Ed Culhane, “Record Haul of Sturgeon Stirs Debate,” Fond du Lac Reporter, February 16, 2004. return
Copyright Clarence B. Davis 2005. Marian College Press, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 2005.
Electronic publication by Fond du Lac Public Library has been approved by Clarence B. Davis.
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