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Gorgeous blue waters, unique ecosystems, and a combined total coastline of over 10,000 miles, longer than the entire US Atlantic coastline.
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These are the Great Lakes.
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At Lake Saint Clair, which connects the Great Lakes, Huron and Erie, Peter is joining a team of scientists embarking on a mission to find a living fossil, the lake sturgeon.
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To find these threatened species, the biologists deployed a method called set lining.
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Right now, we're probably standing in about 4050 feet of water right here, a long anchored fishing line with hook spaced along its length.
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Yeah.
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So right now, we're pulling up on our first set line.
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This is the downstream buoy of the set line.
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Our goal is to capture sturgeon, tag them, and evaluate their health.
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Now it's Showtime.
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We'll see if we get any sturgeon.
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Sturgeon begin their life cycle as tiny eggs.
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These eggs are laid in fast flowing shallow waters and a female can lay thousands of eggs during spawning season.
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Once fertilized, they develop into tiny larvae and drift downstream to larger bodies of water where they spend much of what could be a century long life.
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Then they journey back to their spawning grounds where they were born, and the cycle repeats itself.
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Brad is already feeling a fish on here.
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We got a big fish on the line.
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Right?
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Got a fish on the line.
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Nice fish.
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Oh, look at that.
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Look at the size of him.
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So Jeremy's going to net this fish.
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Jason's going to help unclip it, and they'll bring it in the boat.
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So they'll pick up the fish and put it in our live tank right here.
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We have success, a massive specimen over 90 lbs and perhaps 60 years old.
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We got another fish alongside the boat.
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We got another one coming in already.
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Another fish coming.
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All right, another big fish.
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Yep, this one is a recapture as Jason said.
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So it's got a one of our external metal tags on it.
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So that just shows us that we've tagged this fish before.
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Well, this unusual.
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They have two within the 1st 10 minutes, so that's pretty good.
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If you get 2 in the first few hooks, that's doing pretty good.
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Sturgeon once roamed all of the Great Lakes, including their tributaries like the Mississippi River.
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Today, populations are less than 1% of their historical numbers due in part to overfishing, particularly for those numerous eggs, a delicacy known as caviar.
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Yep.
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Here's a little juvenile.
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Well, this is quite a system you've got.
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Oh, yeah.
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Yeah.
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We've been doing the survey since 1996.
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Every sturgeon caught is a treasure trove of data.
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1.51 point, 5 kilograms, measuring total length here, 668.
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So this one's small enough.
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It's going to get an acoustic telemetry tag, No pit tag present.
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So this is a new fish we've never tagged before, so Brad's going to put it under one of the first couple dorsal scoots up here.
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So these little Bony plates, so we put it right underneath there.
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These tags go just under the skin and don't harm the fish.
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So these little scoots are just like those on an alligator.
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Just this sort of form of protection.
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So yeah, form of protection from any predators that might be out there.
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Look at all of these sensors and you're here sense reporters there on the bottom of the snow and it's got the four barbels to help it detect food on the bottom.
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Oops.
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Right now we're looking for any abnormalities on the fish.
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Think he's probably good to go back.
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We're going to be keeping an eye on you.
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Here he goes.
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Yep.
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So this is our bigger fish foodie, 37437 kilograms, probably a little over 90 lbs.
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Another new fish.
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No fit tag on this one either.
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There he goes.
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You can see where the scoots of all.
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Oh yeah, the haze were all worn off.
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I guess when you get to be this size, it's not an issue about being eaten by other fish.
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You don't need them anymore.
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Yeah, 775mm.
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So that's over 30 inches.
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You go back to the belly here.
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OK, so fish this size is probably at least over 50 years old.
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So he's about half a girl.
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Wow, That's incredible.
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Wow.
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This happens very quickly.
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Fish in less than 10 minutes.
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This is incredible.
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What a system, guys.
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Yep.
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So we're pulling up our second set line of the day now.
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Why are sturgeons so important?
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So lake sturgeon, they've been here since the time of the dinosaurs, a species that's an indicator of good water quality.
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They're the largest fish in the Great Lakes.
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They're culturally important to a lot of the Native American tribes.
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So they're just important in multiple facets I would say.
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And what's affecting their survival.
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Originally they were over harvested and then there is industrialization, a lot of pollution, dams were put in that blocked their spawning migration.
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So all that combined really affected the lake sturgeon populations.
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Is pollution still a big issue or are they getting a handle on it?
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So pollution, I mean, it's, it's still an issue.
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But with the passing of the Clean Water Act, it's one thing that's definitely improved over time.
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We've seen a lot of improvements within the Saint Clair, Detroit River system here specifically.
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Spins kind of has a good handle grab right on there.
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We're going to let him go back and spend the rest of his life free here in the lake.
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Ready.
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Perfect.
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Nice and slimy.
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Nice and slimy.
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Well done.
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Yeah.
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Good job.
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That's a very feisty.
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But it's nice to see him out there swimming for you.
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Exactly.
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Yeah.
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It's good to get him back in the water.
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Where where they belong.
