Sturgeon Fest set for Sept. 29 at Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee

Join in the fun at Sturgeon Fest at Lakeshore State Park in downtown Milwaukee on Sept. 29 and be part of restoring lake sturgeon to Lake Michigan.

The family-oriented event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features the opportunity for participants to sponsor and hand release one of the young sturgeon into the Milwaukee Harbor.

The festival is free for all ages; a donation of $10 is appreciated for sponsoring a sturgeon. There are a limited amount of sturgeon to sponsor, so pre-register to sponsor a fish. Registration closes at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28 or when all sturgeon available for pre-sponsorship are claimed, but a limited amount of fish may be available for sponsorship the morning of the event on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“Come to Sturgeon Fest to experience releasing a sturgeon into Lake Michigan and to be part of this important effort,” says Brad Eggold, Department of Natural Resources Great Lakes District fisheries supervisor. “We have another good crop of sturgeon ready to go, thanks to Riveredge Nature Center and all of the volunteers who have cared for these young fish.”

The fish were hatched from eggs collected by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff on the Wolf River and have been tended to by Riveredge Nature Center volunteers at a streamside rearing facility. They are now ready for release, which sponsors will do after the opening ceremony, which runs from 11:30 to noon and features remarks from local dignitaries, a ceremonial Native American blessing and the first sturgeon release.

The festival continues all day with games and crafts for kids, a scavenger hunt, an Adventure Rock climbing wall, a live reptile and amphibian display, puppet shows, educational booths, local food trucks and more.

“Every year we are blown away by the thousands of people who come out for this special celebration of conservation and community,” says Jessica Jens, Riveredge Nature Center executive director. “To see how excited folks of all ages get to be a hands-on part of bringing back this prehistoric marvel to our waters continues to warm our hearts.”

“Riveredge is just as excited to be a part of this unique partnership with our friends at the Wisconsin DNR, and we encourage everyone to come find out what makes Sturgeon Fest, and the species it celebrates, so special.”

Lake sturgeon, once plentiful in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters and their tributaries, became extirpated in many waters due to key factors including overharvest and pollution. While lake sturgeon populations in the Lake Winnebago system have recovered and now rank as the world’s largest, DNR has given the species “watch” status and is committed to rehabilitating lake sturgeon in areas where it has been extirpated.

Starting in 2006, streamside rearing facilities have been used to produce sturgeon for Lake Michigan. The streamside rearing facility at Riveredge uses water piped from the Milwaukee River, which should help guide the fish back to the Milwaukee River in the years ahead, Eggold says.

Juvenile sturgeon assessments conducted by DNR each summer provide reason for optimism because these released fish are now showing up in DNR fish surveys.

“Since the streamside rearing trailer began operations in 2006, we’ve released 16,470 sturgeon,” he says. “As these fish reach maturity, the majority of them will likely to return to the waters in which they were raised.”

For more information about Sturgeon Fest, visit the Sturgeon Fest website.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.