The Wisconsin Lake Sturgeon Management Plan: Executive Summary

The Sturgeon Management Assessment Team (SMAT) was established in December, 1996 with the purpose of "reviewing, evaluating, and updating lake sturgeon management goals in Wisconsin." By reviewing and updating management goals, a logical end-product of the SMAT's deliberations would then be a revised management plan for lake sturgeon in the state of Wisconsin. Team members included a diverse group of individuals from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), the Menominee Tribe, the University System, the aquaculture industry, several private sporting organizations, the sport fishing industry, and the angling public. Members were invited to participate in the plan development process because of their specific interest in sturgeon biology and management.

Through several facilitated workshops, the Sturgeon Management Assessment Team identified the following key statewide lake sturgeon management issues: the decline in abundance over the last century, the absence of comprehensive biological and/or harvest information with which to manage populations at a statewide or watershed level, the negative effect that habitat loss, modification, or inaccessibility has had on populations, the maintenance of genetic diversity and long-term health of rehabilitated populations, the importance of protection from illegal harvest or incidental catch, the absence of a mechanism to ensure that genetic variability and other population characteristics are maintained in commercial or private industry activities, the existence of antiquated policies and management goals, and the essential involvement of the general public in an effective management program. From the above list of management issues, the Team recommends the following actions:

• Develop standardized collection techniques for population, reintroduction, catch, and harvest assessments
• Identify critical seasonal habitats and habitat improvement opportunities
• Review stocking and reintroduction proposals to ensure genetic integrity is maintained
• Create a separate license fee for hook and line sturgeon fisheries
• Restrict all sturgeon species propagation to the state of Wisconsin and federal, tribal, and commercial aquaculture under a cooperative agreement for research and rehabilitation
• Implement the statewide Lake Sturgeon Management Plan.

A draft management plan was presented to the public in a number of special meetings to give interested citizens the opportunity to provide input on the issues and concerns raised in the management plan. Comments from these meetings were incorporated into the final document.

This Lake Sturgeon Management Plan was created to preserve, protect, and restore lake sturgeon populations in Wisconsin for the benefit of the sturgeon resource and all its users.

The Plan | Biology and Distribution | Executive Summary | Management Issues | Objectives and Recommendations