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Sturgein release
Scientists from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute and the state Wildlife Resources Agency have released 89 lake sturgeon into the Tennessee River, as part of an ongoing effort to replenish the wild population. These fish, which are listed as endangered, once thrived in the United States, but nearly went extinct in the 1970s because of overfishing, dam building, and poor water quality. Meredith Hayes Harris is a biologist with the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute that participated in the sturgeon release. She says each fish is marked with a tracking tag identifying it with a unique number. "We sample every winter the Tennessee River and all the other rivers where they are released, and when we recapture a fish, we will be able to read that number with a special wand that really enables us to get a lot of good data," says Harris. Lake sturgeon are one of three native sturgeon species found in Tennessee. They can grow up to nine feet long, weigh hundreds of pounds, and can live to be one hundred and fifty years-old. Harris says lake sturgeon play a critical role in the marine life ecosystem, and that's why Tennessee conservationists have been working so hard to replenish the population. "Sturgeon being such a large and a long-lived fish, are incredibly important to the ecosystem," says Harris. "They have a very, very large impact on all the other fish and aquatic life in these rivers, and we're part of this ecosystem too, conserving the sturgeon is ultimately conserving the life-support system for us as humans." Since the late 1990s, more than 200,000 lake sturgeon have been released into the Tennessee, Cumberland and French Broad rivers.
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Return to Today's News Stories - Front PageThursday, April 29, 2021
US 411 Project News
Mill Creek Wildfire Update
More Bad News For Smokies' Fans
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Mill Creek Wildfire doubles in size
Goodbye Smokies?
Keep Cocke County Beautiful
Cocke Co. High School Remote Learning today!
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
The fireflies are coming!
Burnout Operations on MillCreek wildfire today
Gas prices drop
Tennessee keeps all US House seats
Monday, April 26, 2021
Boat accident victim ID'd
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Friday, April 23, 2021
Leaving WNPC
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Newport drug roundup
Cruise Against Cancer
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