Response of spawning lake sturgeons to change in hydroelectric facility operation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-1996

Abstract

Spawning of lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens was documented from 1987 to 1992 below the Prickett hydroelectric facility on the Sturgeon River, a tributary to Portage Lake, Michigan. Lake sturgeons were captured at the spawning site with dip nets during periods of reduced flow. A change in the spawning characteristics of the population was noted that corresponded to a change in the operation of the hydroelectric facility. In 1987 and 1988 the facility operated in a peaking mode, which resulted in large daily fluctuations in river flows. The years 1989 and 1990 were years of transition, and in 1991 and 1992 the facility released near run-of-the-river (ROR) flows. Under near-ROR flows, which were more natural, adult lake sturgeons spent 4–6 weeks less at the spawning sites, 74% more fish were observed, weights were greater due to a 68% increase in number of females, and fish had increased reproductive readiness. The change in flow regime was the result of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing action. The positive response observed in lake sturgeon spawning activity that resulted from the change of facility operation to near-ROR flows should be beneficial to the survival and perpetuation of this population. Similar results may be experienced in other lake sturgeon waters affected by manipulated flow regimes. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Publication Title

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society

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