Episode 8: Genesee Sturgeon:
A Modern Fish-tory
The lake sturgeon is the oldest and largest native fish species in the Great Lakes for more than10,000 years. Prior to European contact, indigenous tribes like the Haudenosaunee revered the lake sturgeon and hunted them responsibly. With the establishment of fisheries and the industrial revolution, European immigrants caught lake sturgeons in excess. In the late 1980s, New York State evaluated that lake sturgeons were regionally extinct in the Genesee River.
Recently, with the combined efforts of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Geological Survey, and Seneca Park Zoo, hatchery-raised lake sturgeons have been rewilded into the Genesee. This episode will dive into the lake sturgeon’s biological properties, their relationship to the environment, and their likeliness of once again thriving in the Genesee.
Alex Junquera
Producer
Maya Doichev
Sound Engineer
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Jerry Dulluog
Lead Researcher
Works Cited:
Bryant, Erica. “Four-Foot Sturgeon Found in Genesee River.” Democrat and Chronicle, 20 May 2016, www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/05/20/four-foot-sturgeon-found-genes ee-river/84648918/.
Dittman, Dawn. Personal interview. 11 April 2024.
Grasso, Thomas. “Geology and Industrial History of the Rochester Gorge Part Two.” Rochester Public Library, 1993, https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v55_1993/v55i1.pdf.
Mayntz, Melissa. “Full Moon August 2024 - Sturgeon Moon and Alternative Names.” Farmers’ Almanac, November 2023,
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/augusts-full-sturgeon-moon.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. “Lake Sturgeon Recovery Plan 2018-2024.” NYSDEC, 31 January, 2018,
https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/lakesturgeonrp.pdf.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. “DEC Announces Lake Sturgeon Found Spawning in Genesee River, First in More Than 50 Years.” NYSDEC, 15, July 2021,
https://dec.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2021/7/dec-announces-lake-sturgeon-found-spawn ing-in-genesee-river-first-in-more-than-50-years.
Seneca Park Zoo. “Lake Sturgeon Restoration in the Genesee River - A Success Story of Science Saving Species.” Seneca Park Zoo, August 2018,
https://senecaparkzoo.org/sturgeon/.
Wyatt, Jeff, host. “Sturgeon story.” Tour Blend and Seneca Park Zoo, 2023, https://tourblend.stqry.app/2/tour/7993.
Wyatt, Jeff. Personal interview. 29 February 2024.